Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the construction site of the new Parliament building in Delhi late this evening. Clad in a white kurta-churidar along with a safety helmet, he was seen inspecting the work-in-progress.
Several photos showed PM Modi doing the first-hand inspection of the construction status of the building which is being built at an estimated cost of Rs 971 crore. The construction is expected to be completed by 2022.
In one of the photos, the Prime Minister was seen interacting with the workers at the site.
This was the first visit by the Prime Minister to the new parliament building site, whose construction amid the pandemic have received a lot of criticism from the opposition parties. The opposition parties say the project should be stopped to save funds for management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Laying the foundation stone for the new Parliament in December last year, the Prime Minister had said the new building will fulfill the country's aspirations of the 21st Century while symbolising the "co-existence of the new and the old". "The (existing) building is now looking to retire. It is incumbent upon all of us to give 21st Century India a new Parliament building," he had said.
The main Central Vista project envisages building a new Parliament House, a new residential complex to house offices and the Prime Minister and the Vice President. It will also have new office buildings and a Central Secretariat to accommodate various ministries' offices.
The government has so far spent Rs 238 crore for the construction of the new Parliament building and Rs 63 crore for the redevelopment of Centre Vista Avenue. According to the government, the estimated costs to be incurred on these two projects for the financial year 2021-22 is Rs 1,289 crore.
Earlier, the government had said the ongoing Central Vista redevelopment project, which includes the construction of 10 new Secretariat buildings, would lead to a saving of ₹ 1,000 crore in the form of rent for government offices.
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