Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called for expanding the canvas to build a stronger India, and said all reforms and new laws going forward must have rising aspirations of the country as their priority.
 
Addressing a function in the Central Hall of old Parliament building, Modi said a big picture cannot be painted on a small canvas and the idea of a grand India cannot be envisioned if the members do not think big.
 
"Is it possible to draw a big picture on a small canvas? No! In the same way, we cannot mark out the picture of 'Bhavya Bharat' if we have a small canvas of thinking," the prime minister said.
 
He said, "We have a rich heritage! If this rich heritage is joined in by our dreams, our resolutions, and if our canvas of thinking expands, we will certainly be able to paint a picture of 'Bhavya Bharat', we will certainly be able to fill colours in this picture, and offer this beautiful, colourful and grand picture of 'Maa Bharti' to our future generations,".
 
Modi urged the members to reaffirm the commitment to make India a developed nation by 2047 and described the move to the new Parliament building as a new beginning towards a new future.
 
In the new Parliament building, we are going to make new beginnings for a new future, Modi said at the function to celebrate the legacy of the old Parliament building.
 
He said since 1952, 41 heads of state from across the world have addressed our MPs in Central Hall and more than 4,000 laws have been passed by Parliament in the last seven decades.
 
"Today, together in the new Parliament building, we are all going to inaugurate a new future," Modi said. We are moving towards the new building here with the intention of reiterating the resolve of a developed India, being determined and working whole-heartedly to fulfil it," he said.
 
Addressing the function, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said as proceedings move to the new Parliament building, it was the right time to bury the strategy of "weaponising" disturbances and disruptions in parliamentary functioning as these are antithetical to democratic values.
 
He said in this very Chamber, the members of the Constituent Assembly embarked upon the journey to accomplish the daunting task of drafting the Constitution.
 
"Time has come to give up once and for all the premise of justifying the transgression of conduct and outrageous disregard of rules in the temples of democracy by making reference to past instances," Dhankhar said.
 
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury flagged the "stark disparity" within the country in the form of wealth creation and said bridging it will be the crucial challenge in achieving a 'developed nation' status.
 
Chowdhury said India ranked 131st among 189 countries on the Human Development Index.
 
He said 10 per cent of India's population controlled 73 per cent of the total wealth, while 73 per cent of the wealth created in 2017 gravitated towards the wealthiest one per cent.
 
Chowdhury said 670 million people in the country saw their wealth increase by one per cent in 2017.
 
"This stark disparity presents a crucial challenge in ensuring that millions living below the poverty line have access to fundamental necessities such as food, shelter and healthcare – a prerequisite for moving towards a developed nation status," Chowdhury said.
 
Addressing the event, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla urged Parliamentarians to engage in meaningful and positive debates while making laws and fulfil the dreams and aspirations of the people of the country to make India a developed nation.
 
He said, "The people of the country are looking towards us with new hopes as we move forward on this dream and we should help realise their aspirations and fulfil their expectations."
 
"There should be meaningful and positive discussions so that Parliament can play a significant role in making our country more capable and prosperous and take it towards a developed nation," he said.
 
After the function at the central hall, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several MPs walked from the old to the new Parliament building to attend the sitting in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha chambers in the new complex.
 
Modi, flanked by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda, walked from the old Parliament building to the new one, with NDA MPs following them while raising slogans such as 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and 'Vande Matram'.
 
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also walked to the new Parliament separately.
 
At around 1 o'clock, Lok Sabha proceedings began in the new Parliament building, located adjacent to the old one, starting a new chapter in the Parliamentary history of India.
 
Initiating the first day of the proceedings, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla urged on members to set a new standard of Parliamentary debate by raising people's issues, as he extended greetings of Ganesh Chaturthi, and called the move to the new parliament house a historic event. 
 
Birla also paid his tributes to leaders who built the nation and gave India its own constitution.
 
Addressing the MPs in Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Modi said his government is committed to ensuring the women reservation bill, named as the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' aimed at expanding women's participation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, becomes a law, as he urged MPs of both the Houses of Parliament to pass the bill unanimously.
 
In the first speech in the first session in the new Parliament building, Modi said that the women's reservation bill was given approval in the Cabinet meeting yesterday, and asserted that this will strengthen democracy.
 
"For many years, there have been several debates and controversies around women's reservation.
 
On women's reservation, there have been many efforts earlier also in Parliament. In 1996, the first bill related to this was introduced. During Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure, many times Women's Reservation Bill was brought but numbers could not be mustered for it and the dream was left unfulfilled," Modi said.
 
"For that work of ensuring the rights of women and putting their power to use and for many such noble works, God has chosen me. Once again our government has taken a step in this direction. In the Cabinet yesterday, the Women's Reservation Bill was given approval. This date of September 19 is going to be etched in history," the Prime Minister said.
 
At a time when women are moving forward in every sector, providing leadership, it is necessary that they have maximum contribution in policy-making, Modi said in his remarks in the Lok Sabha chamber of the new Parliament building.
 
They should not only contribute but should also play a key role in policymaking, he said.
 
"Taking forward women-led development, the government is presenting an important Constitutional amendment bill. The aim of the bill is to expand the participation of women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, Modi said.
 
Soon, the government introduced the bill to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies, meeting a long-pending demand.
 
However, its implementation may still take some time and is unlikely to be in force for the next Lok Sabha elections in 2024 as the reservation will come into effect only after a delimitation exercise is completed.
 
The bill has proposed that the reservation will continue for a period of 15 years and there will be a quota for Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes within the reserved seats for women.
 
The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, was listed for introduction in the Lower House through a supplementary list of business.
 
Officials said according to provisions of Article 368, the Constitution amendment bill will require ratification by at least 50 per cent of the states. Their consent is needed as it affects their rights.
 
The then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said in Lok Sabha in March 2010 that such bills will have to be ratified by half of the states.
 
By bringing the bill, which requires amendment to the Constitution, the Modi government has revived the concept of women reservation in Lok Sabha and state assemblies pending for 27 years for want of consensus among parties.
 
The government said it will enable greater participation of women in policy-making at the state and national levels and help achieve the goal of making India a developed country by 2047.
 
While several parties had supported the concept, the debate in Parliament may see opposition questioning the pre-requisite of holding census and delimitation before the proposed law comes into force.
 
Before the bill was listed for introduction, Congress' parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi said this morning that the women's reservation bill "is ours".
 
Speaking in Rajya Sabha, Modi urged members to support the bill unanimously when it comes to the upper house.
 
The BJP described the bill as historic and a result of the visionary leadership of Narendra Modi.
     
Proceedings in the second day of the Special Session of the Rajya Sabha began today in the Upper House chamber in the New Parliament Building presided over by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.
 
As soon as the proceedings commenced, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said that he was adjourning the House for half an hour to deliberate with floor leaders on an important matter. The House was adjourned till 2:47 PM.
 
When the proceedings resumed, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar greeted members on Ganesh Chaturthi.
 
He said that today all members should place their total commitments for the good of the community. He said the Central Hall of the Old Parliament building will henceforth be known as Samvidhaan Sadan.
 
He then called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak.
 
The Prime Minister said that the founding fathers of the Constitution envisaged Rajya Sabha as the Upper House of Parliament.
 
He said that several great luminaries had enlivened debates in the Upper House.
 
The Prime Minister said the New Parliament building is not just a new building and hoped that the new building would infuse new energy into the members.
 
Noting that in the old building India reached the status of the world’s fifth largest economy, it would be among the top three economies in the New Parliament Building. I am certain we will reach the top three economies in the new Parliament Building, the Prime Minister said.
 
He said that over the past few years, the Upper House has taken several significant decisions thanks to the maturity shown by members cutting across party lines.
 
'We did not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha but we were confident that the Upper House would rise above political lines and take decisions in the interest of the country. Because of your maturity, we were able to take difficult decisions," the Prime Minister said. He termed the Upper House as a symbol of federalism.
 
Modi expressed happiness that the Women's Reservation Bill will soon come up for passage in the Upper House. He said that the purpose of Women's Reservation Bill is a step towards improving the ease of living for women. He said that the Government has enacted several laws to benefit women.
 
The Prime Minister said this is an issue that has been discussed for a very long time. 'Now we have brought it in the form of a law,' he said and appealed to members to support the Bill.
 
“I request all of you that this is such an issue that if we all move it forward with mutual agreement, its power will be stronger,” the PM said.
 
Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge hoped that the Parliamentarians would have fruitful deliberations in this new venue cutting across the party lines.
While welcoming Women's Reservation Bill he said that the Bill had been brought by the previous UPA government in the Rajya Sabha in 2010.
 
Kharge’s statement that many women from the weaker sections of the society were not getting the benefits of reservations led to noisy scenes from the Treasury benches.
 
The statement by Mr Kharge that the benefit of the bill and measures do not reach the poorest of the poor was followed by uproar among Treasury benches. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the statement by Mr Kharge was an insult to women. She said that her party has empowered women. In this context, she said that President Droupadi Murmu is a tribal woman.
 
Objecting to the remarks by Mr Kharge, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi said the Prime Minister made an apolitical and balanced speech without bias.
 
Leader of the Opposition Mr. Kharge is a senior member and at least today, he should make a speech like a statesman, Joshi said.
 
Resuming his speech, Mr Kharge, referring to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking about the spirit of federalism in the country said that federal structure was weakening the country. Immediately there was objection from the Treasury benches.
When Mr Kharge made a statement about GST payments still pending to States, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that his statement is inaccurate and that there is no GST  payment pending.  She said that she has even borrowed money to give to States.
 
Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar asked Kharge and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to submit documents about their respective statements.
 
Kharge said that on one hand the BJP talks about federalism on the other hand they were weakening the state governments ruled by the opposition.
 
Concluding his speech, Kharge said that members of the House need to work in a spirit of cooperation for the betterment of the country.
 
After the conclusion of his speech, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar adjourned the House for the day.