NEW DELHI: The new Parliament building is all set for inauguration this Sunday, but the government’s original plan to build chambers for around 800 MPs by March 2024 is almost an impossibility. That’s because the government is yet to finalise the building plan even months after it had floated a tender inviting bids for the project.
The plan to relocate the offices of labour, water resources and shipping ministries has also been put on hold though a new building, constructed at a cost over Rs 350 crore, to accommodate them was inaugurated last month. Only after all the offices are shifted from the Transport and Shram Shakti Bhawans these two building will be razed for construction of the MP chambers.
“Around 800 chambers for members of Parliament will be constructed in the redeveloped Shram Shakti Bhawan. Their construction will start in April 2022 and will be completed by March 2024,” a booklet titled ‘Parliament House: From Past To The Future’ issued by the Lok Sabha secretariat in December 2020 had mentioned. Though the second spell of Covid-19 in 2021 impacted the plan, officials admitted that there has been inordinate delay in this project.
The proposal for MP chambers is part of the redevelopment plan of the entire area and keeping in mind the likely increase in the number of lawmakers after the next delimitation exercise. The government had claimed that the allotment of chambers would help the MPs carry out their tasks more efficiently. “Initially it was planned that the chambers will be ready when new MPs get elected next year. But going by the current status, this won’t be a reality before 2025,” said a source.
Meanwhile, as this project is getting delayed, the government has applied brakes on the shifting of offices from these two government buildings to the newly-built General Pool Office Accommodation (GPOA) building.
The plan to relocate the offices of labour, water resources and shipping ministries has also been put on hold though a new building, constructed at a cost over Rs 350 crore, to accommodate them was inaugurated last month. Only after all the offices are shifted from the Transport and Shram Shakti Bhawans these two building will be razed for construction of the MP chambers.
“Around 800 chambers for members of Parliament will be constructed in the redeveloped Shram Shakti Bhawan. Their construction will start in April 2022 and will be completed by March 2024,” a booklet titled ‘Parliament House: From Past To The Future’ issued by the Lok Sabha secretariat in December 2020 had mentioned. Though the second spell of Covid-19 in 2021 impacted the plan, officials admitted that there has been inordinate delay in this project.
The proposal for MP chambers is part of the redevelopment plan of the entire area and keeping in mind the likely increase in the number of lawmakers after the next delimitation exercise. The government had claimed that the allotment of chambers would help the MPs carry out their tasks more efficiently. “Initially it was planned that the chambers will be ready when new MPs get elected next year. But going by the current status, this won’t be a reality before 2025,” said a source.
Meanwhile, as this project is getting delayed, the government has applied brakes on the shifting of offices from these two government buildings to the newly-built General Pool Office Accommodation (GPOA) building.
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