NEW DELHI: A proposal has been mooted for constructing another Parliament building with Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan saying the existing 88-year-old structure is showing signs of "distress" because of ageing and will no longer be able to meet the growing demand for space.
She has, in fact, proposed two options for the alternative site -- one within the Parliament complex itself and another across the Rajpath, a place where some defence and Delhi Police security barracks are situated.
Mahajan has written a letter to Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu asking him to consider initiating action for construction of a new Parliament building.
To justify the need for a new Parliament building, she has argued that when the present structure was commissioned in 1927, the number of staff, security personnel, media visitors and parliamentary activities were limited but over the years, the parliamentary activities and number of people working there and visitors have increased manifold.
"On account of ageing of the Parliament House building and expansion in activities, staff etc, the building has shown signs of distress and over utilization," she has said in her letter to Naidu, while noting that the present structure is already 88 years old.
The Speaker has said that initially the building was intended only for the Members of Parliament and the Secretariat staff.
But, with the expanding scope of Parliamentary oversight functions, increase in number of committees and security requirements, the demand for space has increased several times, she has underlined.