New Delhi, May 28: Union Minister of State in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh Sunday said that it was absolutely a historic moment to be part of the inaugural ceremony of the new Parliament building and thanked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making it happen.
He stated this while responding to media queries while walking up to the stairs of the new Parliament building in the union capital.
“History will record, we attended the session in two Parliament Houses,” was the instant emotional response of Dr Jitendra, who is also the Union Minister of State (independent charge) Science & Technology besides being MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, to the group of media persons who wanted him to comment on how he felt while making his maiden entry into the new House to attend the inaugural session, which was to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“It has not occurred to many but we, the members of the 17th Lok Sabha are blessed with the unique opportunity of being the only batch of MPs who spent a part of the five-year parliamentary term in the old Parliament building and will now be spending the rest of the five-year parliamentary term in the new parliamentary building,” he said. “Right from the day the independent India adopted the Westminster pattern of parliament based on Lower House and Upper house, this rare chance was not destined to happen ever in the past and is unlikely to happen for over a century in the future. It is a record in itself,” he added.
“It is absolutely a historic moment, which happens but rarely in the life of someone,” said Dr Jitendra and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making this moment happen. He said, “While Modi has made this moment happen, the Almighty has blessed us to live this moment.”
He said the earlier Parliament House had also witnessed history in the making and the Constituent Assembly headed by Dr Ambedakar had conducted its deliberations in the iconic Central Hall. “But, for the last several decades, it was being realised that the Parliament building which had been constructed by the British to accommodate a handful of functionaries was now becoming obsolete, inadequate and congested to provide a comfortable working facility to all the Members of Parliament, their Staff, the Secretariat Staff, the Security Personnel and a host of other departments associated with the functioning of the Parliament,” Dr Jitendra said.