Lack Of Broadcasting Facility Put Cold Water To New Parliament’s Winter Plan

With the broadcasting facility yet to be ready, the winter session of the parliament will not be held in the new building, which is being built under the Central Vista redevelopment plan.

NEW DELHI | Updated: 13 October, 2022 8:04 pm IST

With the broadcasting facility yet to be ready, the winter session of the parliament will not be held in the new building, which is being built under the Central Vista redevelopment plan.

Sources told The New Indian that around 75 per cent of the work on the new building has been completed. However, it is not possible to hold the winter session in the new building because the infrastructure needed for broadcasting is not yet ready.

The government is looking to complete all the infrastructure related to the broadcasting of the new Parliament House before the budget session, sources said.

“Work is in progress day and night to build the broadcasting infrastructure. Installation of all the infrastructure related to electricity connection and video broadcasting is going on in the new parliament building,” sources said.

Giving details of the work left to be done, the source said, “The detailed work for making the control room for broadcasting is left. However, the control room will be completed in November itself. After that, cable lines will be placed.”

According to the source, once these works are completed, the remaining technical infrastructure works will be completed immediately.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the new parliament building on December 10, 2020. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic raged around the world, it delayed the construction of the new building, which was scheduled to be functional by the monsoon session this year.

Due to the unavoidable delays, the cost of building the new parliament building has escalated from ₹971 crores to ₹1,200 crores.

Concerns over the stability of the 93-year-old parliament building led to a search for an alternative. Acclaimed architect Bimal Patel, who redesigned Central Vista, designed the triangular-shaped new parliament building with a lifespan of more than 150 years. Apart from being earthquake-resistant, the new building incorporates architectural styles from different parts of India.

The chambers for the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha can now accommodate more Members of Parliament, keeping in mind India’s growing population and resultant future delimitation. The new complex has 888 seats in the Lok Sabha chamber and 384 seats in the Rajya Sabha chamber. While there will be no central hall in the case of the joint session, the Lok Sabha chamber can house 1272 members when needed.

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