What Will Happen To The Old Parliament Building Now

There has been an uproar over the inauguration of the new Parliament building set to take place on May 28.

Questions have now arisen as to what would happen to the old Parliament building.

Sources tell OneIndia that the once the new building comes up and becomes operational, work on converting the old building into a 'museum of democracy' will begin.

In March 2021, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri had told the Rajya Sabha that once the new building comes up, the existing one would have to be repaired and made available for alternative use. However no comprehensive thought had been given to what use it should be put to, the minister had said back then.

When asked if the old building would be demolished, the source cited above said that there is no question of that. It would be conserved as it an archaeological asset of the nation. There are plans of using it with the new building for parliamentary events once it is renovated the source added.

There are all attempts being made to conserve the building. Once converted into a museum, people will be able to visit it and actually visit the Lok Sabha chamber.

While the Opposition parties have been questioning the need to have a new Parliament building the government took into consideration several factors. Here are a few of them:

• The current Lok Sabha and Central Hall are full to their capacity and cannot be extended any further.
• The old building was ad-hoc in nature and several alterations had to be made. The building is also severely damaged.
• The offices of the ministers and facilities such as meeting rooms were make-shift in nature.
• The electrical mechanism, air-conditioning, audio-visual, acoustic , public address system and security infrastructure are out-dated.
• The old building has not been certified as earthquake safe.
• The fire-safety norms are also designed according to the modern norms.
• In case of an emergency, the evacuation arrangements are inadequate.