New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the new Parliament building which is equipped with state of art technology.
The inauguration of the new parliament began with the installation of scared ‘Sengol’ a sceptre from Tamil Nadu, in the Lok Sabha chamber, right next to the Speaker’s chair, after performing puja.
Modi was handed over the historic ‘Sengol’ by Adheenams before its installed in the new Parliament building.
The Sengol was received by India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to represent the transfer of power from the British. The scepter was previously placed in a museum in Allahabad.
Earlier the ceremony began with a traditional ‘pooja’ with Vedic rituals which will continue for an hour.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was also present along with PM Modi during the pooja. After the pooja, Modi unveiled the plaque of the new building, accompanied by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Adheenam seers.
During the historic inauguration of the new Parliament building, prayers from all religions (Jain, Judaism, Hindu, Islam, Sikh) were recited which was attended by the Cabinet ministers.
Dedicating the new Parliament building to the nation, PM Narendra Modi also felicitates the workers who helped in the building new Parliament House in a record time. The Prime Minister felicitated the construction workers with traditional shawls and handed over mementos.
Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, S Jaishankar, Jitendra Singh, Chief Ministers of several states, and BJP president J P Nadda presented at the sarv-dharma prayer ceremony.
The interior of the new Parliament building has three national symbols the lotus, the peacock, and the banyan tree as its themes.
The triangular-shaped four-story parliament building has been constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 970 crore in an area of 64,500 sqm.
The building has three main gates - Gyan Dwar, Shakti Dwar, and Karma Dwar. The new Parliament building, part of the Central Vista Project, will replace the old Parliament House, which started its operations in January 1927.
Today’s Lok Sabha can seat 888 members, with the capacity to expand it to 1,272 during joint sessions of Parliament and it is based on the peacock theme, the National Bird. While the Rajya Sabha will seat 384 and it is based on lotus theme, the National Flower.
Both chambers are roughly three times bigger than their counterparts in the earlier Parliament House.
The old lower house chamber had a significantly inadequate 148-member capacity at inception, necessitating remodeling for expansion in the 1950s, with the first floor added in the 1960s.
The increased floor space came at the cost of aesthetics and convenience, with many seats placed behind the 12 pillars that hold up the building.
Similarly, the upper house could initially accommodate only 86 members, and alterations were made to increase its capacity to 250. There are now 92 chambers for Cabinet Ministers and party offices.
The Building has offices which are secure, efficient, equipped with the latest communication technology and has sophisticated audio-visual systems.
The state-of-the-art Constitutional Hall symbolically and physically puts the citizens at the heart of the democracy. The Central Lounge will complement the open courtyard.
A platinum-rated Green Building, the new Sansad Bhawan is a symbol of India's commitment towards environment sustainability. An embodiment of Indian heritage, it reflects the vibrance and diversity of modern India, incorporating cultural and regional arts and crafts.
PM Modi laid the foundation stone of the new Parliament on December 10, 2020.
For the inauguration of the new building of parliament, the government has received a confirmed list of 25 political parties, including some which are not a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), that participated in the inauguration ceremony.
On Wednesday, 19 parties including the main opposition Congress issued a statement announcing their "collective decision" to boycott the inauguration ceremony.
They said that while the opening was a momentous occasion Modi's "decision to inaugurate the building by himself" was "a grave insult and a "direct assault" on India's democracy. (UNI)
