New Delhi: Calling the Central Vista project a "criminal wastage", former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday urged the Narendra Modi government to focus more on people's lives.
"Central Vista is criminal wastage. Put people's lives at the centre -- not your blind arrogance to get a new house," he said in a tweet.
The Congress and the several opposition parties have questioned the need of the new Parliament building, and suggested that all resources should be put to fight Covid-19 pandemic.
On Friday, India recorded 4.14 lakh fresh cases of Covid with 3,915 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Rahul Gandhi's remarks on Friday came three days after the reports of Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has informed a government-appointed expert panel that the construction of the Prime Minister's residence under the ambitious Central Vista project will be completed by December 2022.
The CPWD, which is the project developer, had informed the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) that the expansion of the Parliament building and the construction of a new Parliament building will be done by November 2022 and the Prime Minister's residence will be constructed by December 2022.
The Ministry of Environment has already granted the clearance for the expansion and renovation of the existing Parliament building, which is part of the Rs 13,450 crore Central Vista Redevelopment Project.
The work on the project has continued despite the lockdown in the national capital that has brought most construction sites to a grinding halt. The construction work for the project has been brought under the ambit of "essential services", a move that been flayed by the opposition.
Worries by this, a petition was filed in Delhi HC seeking its intervention to stop the work amid the Pandemic.
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