Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday unveiled the 6.5 metre-tall National Emblem on top of the under-construction new Parliament building.
The emblem made of bronze weighs 9,500 kg. A supporting steel structure of 6,500 kg was made to support its weight, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.
“The concept sketch and process of casting of the National Emblem on the roof of New Parliament Building has gone through eight different stages of preparation from clay modeling/computer graphic to bronze casting and polishing,” the statement read.
After the ceremony, Mr. Modi interacted with the workers building the new Parliament, which is scheduled to be completed by October. In a tweet, he said: “I had a wonderful interaction with the Shramjeevis who have been involved in the making of the Parliament. We are proud of their efforts and will always remember their contribution to our nation”.
The emblem was created by Sunil Deore from Aurangabad and Laxman Vyas from Jaipur and the fabrication was carried out in Aurangabad, Jaipur and Delhi, the government’s consultant for the project, HCP Design, Planning and Management Ltd., told The Hindu last week. It had taken nine months to complete the bronze sculpture that measured 4.34 metres in width, HCP had said.
Reacting to photos of the ceremony released by the government, AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said in a tweet: “Constitution separates powers of parliament, govt & judiciary. As head of govt, @PMOIndia shouldn’t have unveiled the national emblem atop new parliament building. Speaker of Lok Sabha represents LS which isn’t subordinate to govt. @PMOIndia has violated all constitutional norms”.
