While laying the foundation stone for the new Parliament building on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed it as an important milestone for India and a historic day for all Indians.
“Today is a historic day as the foundation of the new Parliament building has been laid. It is an important milestone for our Democracy. We, the people of India, will construct this new building together. It is a day for 130-crore Indians should be proud of,” PM Modi said, adding that the new building will be an example of the coexistence of the old and new.
Modi also recounted the time when he came to the old Parliament building as an MP for the first time in 2014. “Before stepping into this temple of democracy, I bowed my head in salute,” the Prime Minister said.
He also highlighted the achievements that took place in the old Parliament building. “The old building is nearly a hundred-years-old. The old building played its role during India’s Independence and post-independence. Here, Dr BR Ambedkar and others gave us our constitution,” Modi said. “The building has been renovated time and again, and systems like sound, fire emergency and other systems have been updated over time,” he said.
Modi told the gathering that if the old parliament building has given direction to India after Independence, then the new parliament building will stand witness as the creation of Atmanirbhar Bharat. “The Nation’s necessities were fulfilled in the old building, but in the new building, ambitions of a 21st century India will be recognized,” Modi added.
The Prime Minister has said that India’s Democracy is a culture and is a system developed over centuries. “Democracy is a life value, a way of life and the soul of the nation,” Modi said, adding that we must take the pledge of ‘India First’ and the nation’s welfare must come first. “Our efforts in the next 25-26 years should be towards how we want to see India in 2047, 100 years of our Independence,” the Prime Minister said.
Earlier, the ground-breaking ceremony of the new parliamentary building commenced at 12.55 pm on Thursday. PM Modi took part in the Bhoomi Pujan and laid the foundation stone in the presence of Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Hardeep Puri, and Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan Singh.
During the opening address, Puri said, “When the number of Members of Parliament (MPs) will increase in 2026, the current parliament building will not be enough to house them. It is our country’s good fortune that we have a future-thinking Prime Minister who has been able to identify the nation’s future needs.”
Union Ministers, Speakers and Deputy Speakers of state councils and ambassadors from other countries were also present at the foundation stone laying ceremony.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the parliamentary building will be an essential part of the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ vision. The PMO added that this would be an opportunity to build a peoples’ Parliament for the first time since Independence. “The new Parliament Building will be modern, state-of-the-art and energy-efficient, with highly non-obtrusive security facilities to be built as a triangular-shaped building, adjacent to the present Parliament. The Lok Sabha will be three times the current size, and Rajya Sabha will be substantially bigger. The new building’s interiors will showcase a rich blend of Indian culture and the diversity of our regional arts, crafts, textiles, and architecture. The design plan includes space for a magnificent Central Constitutional Gallery, which will be accessible to the public,” the PMO said in a press release.
