STRAP: New MPs may be welcomed at annexe
NEW DELHI, May 17: Newly elected Lok Sabha members may get a grand welcome at the Parliament Annexe Extension building as the re-development of external areas outside the new Parliament building is yet to be completed.
The Parliament premises are undergoing a revamp with creation of new lawns for official ceremonies, relocation of statues, and building disembarkation points for lawmakers, who will be ferried around the complex in battery-operated vehicles.
The Lok Sabha secretariat has begun preparations to welcome new members with officials identifying places – mostly state government guest houses in the national capital and the Western Court hostel complex – as temporary residences for the newly elected Lok Sabha members.
The newly elected MPs are expected to reach Parliament by the evening of June 4, the day when the counting of votes is scheduled to take place, officials said.
Special booths are likely to come up in the banquet hall and other rooms in the Parliament Annexe Extension Building, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2017, where the newly elected lawmakers will fill up various forms and get themselves photographed for smart cards to access the Parliament building and various facilities.
On earlier occasions, the newly elected Lok Sabha members were welcomed at the circular, colonnaded Parliament building, which has been named as Samvidhan Sadan, since the inauguration of the new building last year.
Officials said reception centres to welcome the newly elected lawmakers will be set up at the airport and railway stations in the national capital from where they will be escorted to Parliament premises.
The newly elected lawmakers will get new phone connections, smart access cards to the new Parliament building, Fastag stickers for their vehicles, new bank accounts, and diplomatic passports, official e-mail accounts and enrolment for CGHS facilities.
The outgoing Lok Sabha members will be given time to vacate their official accommodation which will be refurbished and allotted to new lawmakers. (PTI)
