New Delhi: The new and old parliament buildings of India have emerged as some of the most preferred destinations for visitors of all ages. Over 13 lakh people visited the buildings in the last 10 years. “The new and old parliament buildings reflect the grandeur of India’s parliamentary and democratic history, architectural finesses and cultural richness,” said an official.
According to official data obtained by a newspaper (The New Indian Express ) 13,10,979 passes, including 8,77,278 session-visitor passes, were issued for visitors to Parliament between 2016 and 2025. The data shows that Parliament received the highest number of 1,97,052 visitors in 2019, a year before the Covid outbreak. The number of visitors dropped sharply in 2020, when 32,852 session and inter-session visitors were issued passes.
On the sidelines of the 86th All India Presiding Officers Conference in Lucknow, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had told the media that the craze for visiting Parliament among people from rural areas and schoolchildren has increased significantly.
After the construction of the new Parliament building, it has become the most visited structure, followed by the old building, now named Samvidhan-Sadan. “Taking rounds of selfies with old magnificent parliament building is the most common desire of visitors after they come out from the new building during and after the session,” said an official who remains on duty throughout the year.
When asked during the winter session about what thrilled them the most after visiting the parliament buildings, several women visitors and schoolchildren echoed similar sentiments. “Wonderful designs, interiors and our culture and history of parliamentary system made us feel elated and more privileged.
Apart from all this, what made us feel more attached with our country’s wonderful new and old parliament buildings was support of security personnel and others who guided us where to see what and how,” said a woman visitor.
A majority of visitors, who came during sessions, watched the parliamentary proceedings, while those visiting during inter-session periods toured the new parliament building as well as the old structure. Visitors come to parliament either as invited guests of lawmakers of both Houses or through passes obtained after requests sent to the Lok Sabha Secretariat through PRIDE (Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies) for group visits during both session and non-session times.
