Chairing the proceedings on the first day of the Lok Sabha’s special session, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla informed the House that today is the last day of proceedings in the Parliament House and after today, the House proceedings will be conducted in the new building of Parliament. He expressed hope that all the Members will enter the new Parliament House with renewed hopes and expectations. Birla expressed confidence that India’s democracy will reach new heights in the new building.
Birla observed that the Parliament House has witnessed the historic moment of independence; making of the Constitution of India and the glorious democratic journey of the modern nation. Remembering the Speaker of the first Lok Sabha of independent India, Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, Birla was happy to note that as the first Speaker of the country’s highest democratic institution, he established the Rules Committee, Privileges Committee, Business Advisory Committee and many other parliamentary committees and laid the foundation of the highest traditions within the House. Recalling the remarkable contribution of former Lok Sabha Speakers, Shri Birla said that the 16 former Speakers established the best traditions of Parliament.
Describing the House as a living symbol of the culture of dialogue, he said that in the last 75 years, amid the agreements and disagreement between various parties, decisions were taken collectively in the interest of the nation and through parliamentary deliberations, laws were made for socio-economic changes in the lives of the people. Expressing pride, he said that even in times of disaster and crisis, the House has faced them with solidarity and commitment.
