Every brick and every wall of the new Parliament building is dedicated to the welfare of the poor and in the next 25 years the new laws made here will help India transform into a developed nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
Watch | New Parliament building to herald rise of developed India, will inspire world: PM Modi
“In 25 years, India will complete its 100 years of independence. We also have 25 years to work together and make India a developed nation. The goal is a big one and is tough. But every citizen has to work towards it with all sincerity,” Modi said in his speech at the inaugural ceremony of the new Parliament building on Sunday.
The representatives of the people who will sit in the new Parliament building, will work with new inspiration and will try to give a new direction to democracy, the PM said.
“We have to move ahead with the philosophy of ‘nation first’. We have to lead by example,” he said.
Pointing out that India’s independence struggle, which was marked by Mahatma Gandhi’s call for non-cooperation twenty five years before the country got freedom in 1947, acted as an inspiration to other countries to move on the path of independence, Modi said that the country motivated other nations in the present as well.
“When a country of India’s size and strength moves forward with determination, it encourages many countries around the world. If India removes its poverty with speed, it will encourage many others to do the same. India’s march towards becoming a developed country will also give confidence to other countries to think of the same,” he said.
Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building and dedicated it to the nation on Sunday morning in a ceremony which started with a havan and was followed by multi-faith prayers.
Modi, with Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla by his side, installed the historic `Sengol’, a symbol of power and fair governance of the Chola reign, in the new Lok Sabha chamber, next to the Speaker’s chair.
“This Sengol will keep reminding us that we have to walk on the path of duty and remain answerable to the public,” Modi said on Saturday while addressing Adheenams (priests) who handed over the sceptre to him.
The new Parliament building was constructed in less than three years as part of the BJP’s ambitious ₹20,000 crore Central Vista plan. The Tata Group won the tender to construct the new building and the latest estimates peg the project cost at ₹971 crore. The need for a new Parliament building was felt due to a space crunch in the old building and also to make available the required digital infrastructure.