Om Birla, Speaker of Lok Sabha has defended the construction of a new Parliament building as part of the Central Vista project. He said “It’s not a matter of the government’s ego” and that the 100-year-old building is unsafe and not appropriate for several functions of the House.
“Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha had requested the government that the current building, which is historic and unparalleled in the world, is now 100 years old and is not earthquake-safe,” said Om Birla.
He further said the iconic building constructed by the British is inadequate in many ways and a new-age green building is being built at a cost of Rs 900 crore. “We have been saving money in Parliament workings and over Rs 400 crore has been saved so far,” he said.
He also spoke on the faction war in Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). “A dispute in the party is an issue out of the purview of the Speaker’s office. Their Parliament leader, the chief whip, filed a plea that five members have elected a leader. We recorded the change. We don’t look at who the president of the party is. They stay with LJP. We can’t act till a petition is received under the anti-defection law and is disposed of,” he said.
He held up the rules in favour of confidentiality and ruled out the possibility of virtual standing committees. “We may have to build a consensus. Right now, most MPs are against virtual standing committee meetings. We will take up the issue in-rule committee,” said Om Birla.
Speaker Om Birla said that legislative business has increased and discussions have lasted longer than the scheduled time over the years. “A historic number of issues have been raised in the House and 90% of them were replied to by the ministers. In these two years, on one day, 161 members raised issues of public concern,” added the Speaker.
He added, “Covid was a big challenge and MPs have worked and made Parliament more productive. In 114 sittings, 704 hours of debate were conducted.”
