New Delhi:
CPI MP Binoy Viswam Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop the December 10 foundation stone-laying ceremony for a new Parliament building and suspend the overall Central Vista project, and divert the fund to ”more important and pressing issues that the country faces”.
In a letter to the prime minster, Viswam said that carrying out such a project at a time the country faces ”unprecedented challenges” such as the COVID-19 pandemic, a ”crippling recession” and unemployment shows the ”apathy and indifference” of the government towards its people. He also said that even the Supreme Court has ”expressed anguish” at the governments ”hurried continuation” of the Central Vista project. The Supreme Court Monday allowed the Centre to go ahead with the foundation stone-laying ceremony after the government assured judges that no construction or demolition work would commence until the apex court decides the pending pleas on the issue.
Viswam said in the letter, ”Lakhs of farmers from across the country have taken to the streets in protest against the new farm laws that seek to open up the sector to private players, much to the peril of farmers. ”All of this in addition to a systematic privatisation of virtually every sector in the economy and the constant refrain from the government about a lack of funds, especially when it comes to paying States their due of GST. Amidst such peril, the allocation of Rs 20,000 crores for the Central Vista Project is completely unjustified and must be stopped,” he said. He said that in such challenging times, it is incumbent upon the government to focus its energies and resources on the fundamental needs of the people and the nation, ”rather than undertaking projects to serve their own political legacies”. He told the prime minister the needs of the people must take precedence over this project and ”I urge you to stop the foundation stone laying ceremony scheduled for December 10, 2020”. ”The funds allocated for the project must be diverted to more important and pressing issues that the country faces,” he said. The Central Vista revamp, announced in September last year, envisages a new triangular Parliament building, with seating capacity for 900 to 1,200 MPs. It has to be constructed by August, 2022, when the country will be celebrating its 75th Independence Day.
The common Central Secretariat is likely to be built by 2024 under the project against which various pleas have been filed in the apex court. Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to lay the foundation stone on December 10 for the new Parliament building and the construction is estimated to cost Rs 971 crore.
