There is a plan to have a new Parliament House. The construction is set to begin in December this year and is expected to be completed by October 2022. Estimated cost is 971 crore rupees.
The plan is to have a triangular building with seats for 888 Lok Sabha members and 384 Rajya Sabha members besides Constitution Hall, committee rooms, offices, dining areas, library and so on.
New Parliament House should be rectangular.
As per 2011 census India’s population was 121 crores. Now it must be some crores more than that. Next year we have census. India’s population is growing and is set to grow for some years though total fertility rate is 2.1 children per woman. There should be at least one representative for a million people in Lok Sabha. India’s population is expected to stabilise in 2045. Considering these factors Lok Sabha Hall should have seats for at least 1,600 members.
As per Articles 81 and 82 of the Constitution the number of seats were to be revised and constituencies readjusted as per the last preceding census. This was stopped by 42nd Amendment at 1971 census up to the year 2000. By 84th Amendment it was stopped at 1971 census up to the year 2026 and for division of constituencies in a state at 1991 census. By 87th Amendment division of constituencies in a state was stopped at 2001 census. Maximum seats allowed are 535 for states and 20 for union territories. Seats should have gone up and Central Hall could have been used for Lok Sabha.
For security reason there should be no individual chambers for MPs. It will be difficult to check every item that comes in the building. Terrorists can bring a bomb and place it in a chamber of an MP and time it to explode during a session. In Kashmir terrorists many times have come wearing army uniform in vehicles that looked like army jeeps and have killed people.
The British built New Delhi thinking they will rule India for ever. Their rule ended. Viceregal Lodge also known as Viceroy’s House or Government House became Rashtrapati Bhavan. Council House became Parliament House. Delhi has seen many rulers and dynasties.
When India bid for Commonwealth Games 2010 people were told that it will cost 160 crore rupees. The cost went up as years passed and as per one estimate it was 1,02,000 crore rupees. That should not happen to new Parliament building.
