Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday unveils the national emblem cast atop the new Parliament building, ahead of its scheduled opening later this year.
“This morning, I had the honour of unveiling the National Emblem cast on the roof of the new Parliament,” Modi tweeted. “I had a wonderful interaction with the ‘shramjeevis’ who have been involved in the making of Parliament,” he wrote.
Modi also posted a video of his interaction with the workers, in which one of them is heard comparing the Prime Minister’s visit to the site with Lord Ram’s arrival at Shabari’s hut. Modi reacts: “Wah, wah, this is your hut!” He then says every poor person in the country should see it as
their hut. The reference to a hut is ironical because the Rs 20,000-crore Central Vista project, which includes the new Parliament complex and a new house for the Prime Minister among other buildings, has been described by the Opposition as a palace that Modi was building for himself when ordinary Indians were dying for lack of oxygen and grappling with joblessness in the Covid-19 pandemic.
The PMO said the 6.5-metre-high emblem was made of bronze and weighed 9,500kg. A steel structure weighing around 6,500kg has been constructed to support it.
