Amid the storm raging over the Central Vista Project, the government has provided complete facts to clarify issues related to expenditure. It has explained why a new parliament building is being constructed instead of the existing one being repaired, thereby dispelling ‘myths’ surrounding the issue.

The present Parliament House is a colonial-era building that was designed as the ‘Council House’ and completed in 1927. When India became independent, it was converted to serve as Parliament House. The present building was never designed to accommodate a bicameral legislature for a full-fledged democracy.

In accordance with various constitutional amendment acts, the present strength of the Lok Sabha has remained frozen since 1976 at 552. This means that, today, each Member of Parliament represents, on average, 25 lakh citizens. This number is very high in comparison to what it was at the time of Independence – approximately 5 lakh – and in comparison to other democracies of the world, and will continue to rise with India’s growing population.

As a consequence, there have been many urgent calls for increasing representation in the Indian Parliament. If the strength of the Parliament is increased after the freeze on its expansion lifts in 2026, it will be necessary to ensure that Parliament House has the facilities for a larger parliament to function.

#CentralVista #NewParliament #Infrastructure

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