Govt plans to get at least one House ready in new parl building before winter session

New Delhi. The new Parliament building that is under construction as part of the Central Vista Redevelopment Project is unlikely to be fully functional in time but the government's plan to push the winter session of Parliament to early December has given more elbow room for the agencies to get one chamber fully ready for sittings.

The newly constructed Parliament House will see a 'soft inauguration' next month with single sittings of both Houses. Work on the two main chambers, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, are in full swing but the new Lok Sabha is very likely to get ready on time to host joint sittings of the parliament.

One of the senior official said the agencies are trying hard to make at least the new Lok Sabha chamber fully functional before the session. Work is progressing round-the-clock on the project site and hopefully one house will be ready to host the joint sitting of parliament in coming winter session.

"Top officials have been visiting the project side every week and to review the progress physically. This is in addition to the weekly review meeting that union housing and all the affair secretary Manoj Joshi holes with the design consultant construction company and the CPWD officials." the official said.

All the agencies are putting their best efforts to see that that can be a joint sitting of both the houses in the new parliament. We are very hopeful of this though the final decision will be taken by the government. The new lok sabha has been designed to hold the joint session of parliament. Efforts I also bring made if both the lok sabha and rajya sabha chambers can be completed. Said a senior official

Earlier the government had said that it will hold the winter session in the new building during the 75th anniversary of Independence.

According to government insiders, the two chambers are fully constructed and design elements largely in place; acoustics and other technical systems are being tested. The remaining work such as the office of ministers and other facilities can't be completed before February or March.