Page 30 - NIS English 16-30 June,2023

Cover Story

New temple of Democracy

A new parliament had become a necessity

n The construction of the Parliament House was started in n The seating arrangement was cramped and
the year 1921 and was put into use in the year 1927. It is a cumbersome, with no desks beyond the second row. The
heritage-grade I building about 100 years old. Central Hall has a seating capacity of only 440 people.
n Over the years, parliamentary functions and the n The problem of limited seats was further compounded
number of people working in them and visitors have when there were joint sessions. It was also a major security
increased manifold. There is no record or document of risk due to the limited space for movement.
the original design of the Parliament House. Therefore,
n Cramped infrastructure and the provision of services
new construction and modifications have been made
like water supply lines, sewer lines, air conditioning, fire
temporarily.
fighting, CCTV, and audio-video systems that were not
n For example, two new storeys built on the outer circular originally planned had resulted in dampness and spoil the
part of the building in 1956 hid the dome of the Central overall aesthetics of the building.
Hall and altered the facade of the original building.
n Fire safety was a major concern as the building was
n In addition, the natural light in the chambers of both not designed as per the current fire norms. Several new
houses of parliament was reduced by the covering of electrical cables were installed, which pose a potential
lattice windows. fire hazard.In Parliament House, the communication
infrastructure and technology were antiquated. The
n It was showing signs of overpressure and overutilization
acoustics of all the halls needed major improvement.
and was not able to meet the current requirements for
space, facilities, and technology. n This building's structural safety was a source of concern.
The current Parliament building was constructed when
n Seats for MPs were constricted, and the current building
Delhi was in Seismic Zone II; it is now in Seismic Zone IV.
was never designed to accommodate a bicameral
legislature in a full democracy. n Employees had insufficient workspace, and as demand
for space had increased, internal service corridors were
n Based on the delimitation done on the basis of the
converted into offices, resulting in poor quality and narrow
1971 census, the number of Lok Sabha seats remained
workspaces.
unchanged at 545.
n Subdivisions were created within the existing workspace
n As a result, each member of Parliament now
to accommodate the ever-increasing demand for space,
represents an average of 2.5 million citizens.
causing the office to become overcrowded.
This figure is much higher than at the time of
independence (around 5 lakh) and in comparison n Speakers of the Lok Sabha, Meira Kumar on July 13, 2012,
to other democracies around the world, and it will Sumitra Mahajan on December 9, 2015, and Om Birla
continue to rise as India's population grows. in a letter dated August 2, 2019; all requested that the
government build a new Parliament building.

28 New India Samachar June 16-30, 2023