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Uttar Pradesh government has expedited the process of the construction of the new building to house the bicameral state Legislature.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna said that the state government was in the process of selecting the site for the new building, but he did not provide a specific time frame for its completion.
“We have allocated a budget of Rs 50 crore for the construction of a new legislature building in the state’s budget for 2023-2024,” Khanna said.
Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana on the concluding day of the Budget session of March 5 had announced that Uttar Pradesh was all set to have a new Vidhan Sabha building in the state capital.
On the concluding day of the March 5th Budget session, Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana announced that the state was prepared to construct a new Vidhan Sabha building in the state capital and was optimistic that the 18th Assembly, whose term would end in 2027, would be able to have a few sittings in the new building.
Official sources said various options that were likely to be considered for the new building include the Darul Shafa area around the Lok Bhavan that houses the chief minister’s secretariat.
“The Lucknow Zoological Gardens in Hazratganj is also one of the probable site once the zoo is shifted. The available space in the Chak Gajaria Farm area on Sultanpur Road is also an option,” he said.
The Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Bhavan’s existing main building that houses the Vidhan Sabha was constructed in 1928. The then Governor of United Province Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler had laid the foundation stone of the grand building on December 15, 1922, and it was inaugurated on February 21, 1928. A sum of Rs 21 lakh was sanctioned for the building.
The Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Bhawan continues to face space crunch. Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha had to work on increasing the number of seats in the main assembly hall when it decided to digitise its proceedings by implementing the National eVidhan Application after 2022 assembly election to make the House paperless.
The state legislative assembly, which has a sanctioned strength of 403 members, had only 379 seats. Additional rows were added and the space within the rows was used to add 35 seats there. There is also a paucity of space in the Vidhan Parishad area.