New Delhi : The Center is legally bound to disclose the cost of construction of government properties. The RTI Act strengthened the hand of democracy on this issue during the UPA era. You can argue & wait but will not receive reply, that is what is happening nowadays. According to Urban Development Ministry and Parliament House sources, the government will avoid all questions on the Central Vista issue. This is not the end, the Center has adopted the formula of ‘red tape loophole’ in the case of RTIs filed seeking to know the detailed cost of the new Parliament Bhawan including Central Vista.
People do not have the right to know where people’s tax money is being spent? This question is now gaining momentum around the Central Vista project including the new Parliament building. Because, the Modi government does not feel the need to inform the common people of any information regarding this expenditure. More precisely, the people or public representatives do not seem to have that right in this age. Now, the full session has started for the first time in the New Parliament Building. And now, the debate about it is building up high. Because, no question related to this project was accepted by the Secretariat in the winter session. At least not on the list for the first five days. But the question is raised – the cost of the new parliament building, the cost of the new bungalow of the Prime Minister & Vice President, or the overall Central Vista project, how much money has the Modi government spent? If the public representatives put this question in front of the government, will there be much discomfort ? If not, what is the problem take such questions related to Central Vista an new Parliament Building by the centers? So anger is growing high between the oppositions.
Manoranjan Roy, an expatriate Bengali in Mumbai, wants to know the account of every expense of the new parliament building built with public tax money. Manoranjan Roy has asked for an ‘invoice’ for everything from chairs and tables to microphones, national flags on Naya Bhavan, marble from Rajasthan, or other decorations. But the answer does not match. RTI letters regarding the cost of the new parliament building have been going on for more than a month now. It is alleged that the Lok Sabha Secretariat is avoiding the answer. According to special sources, under the Right to Information Act, the thorough costing letter of the new Parliament building, once Lok Sabha Secretariat, once the Ministry of Urban Development, once CPWD, once the Engineering Department of the Parliament… is shifting from one table to another in the Parliament. The answer remains elusive. The question raised by the opposition, is it not avoided ?
