No five star accommodation for MPs of 17th Lok Sabha

New Delhi:  Unlike the past, new members of the 17th Lok Sabha will not get accommodation in five star hotels but will be put up in the Western Court premises and bhavans of various states.

“Around 300 rooms have been arranged along with other extensive facilities to render all possible assistance to the Members of Parliament (MPs) so that they do not face any inconvenience when they arrive in the national capital,” Lok Sabha Secretary General Snehlata Shrivastava told reporters here on Wednesday.

“The newly-elected members will be accommodated in the Western Court and its newly-built Annexe and various state bhavans. Thus, the Lok Sabha Secretariat has done away with the system of transit accommodation in hotels,” she said.

Medical posts will also function on round the clock basis in Parliament House and Western Court, she added.

According to Shrivastava, returning officers in all parliamentary constituencies had already been informed about the arrangements being made by the Lok Sabha Secretariat for the newly-elected members in respect of transit accommodation, telephone facilities, and their other preliminary requirements.

The new members, she said, have been requested to bring with them the certificate of election, in original, issued to them by the returning officer concerned when they visit the Parliament House.

For the first time, the advance copy of the documentation, containing various forms, has been forwarded to the returning officers for the use of the members, she said.

Among other initiatives taken by the Lok Sabha Secretariat to make the registration formalities seamless and technology-oriented, all the documents have been categorised as part one and two, and are also available on the Lok Sabha websites for the use of the members.

The members can register online with regard to forms in part one such as oath or affirmation, specimen signature, transit accommodation and declarations under different rules.

As part of the outreach plan, 56 nodal officers have been assigned around eight to 10 constituencies each to get in touch with the newly-elected members, and to guide them about the various formalities.

The Secretary General said that the members, for the first time, will be immediately issued permanent identity cards on their arrival in Parliament House. Earlier, the members and their spouses were issued temporary passes.

The Secretariat has also set up guide posts at the Indira Gandhi International Airport’s (IGIA) terminals one, two and three to receive the newly-elected members, she said, adding similar posts have also set up at New Delhi, Old Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin and Anand Vihar railway stations.

The guide posts will function on May 23 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. and thereafter on May 24 from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.

These guide posts are basically reception centres where members will be received on their arrival in Delhi, she said.

As in the past, Srivastava said, Room No 62 of the Parliament House will function as the facilitation centre for these MPs, and it will be functional from May 23 to May 28.

This time all formalities and paper work relating to the registration, salary and allowances, nominations, transit accommodation and a host of other matters would be got completed at a single desk, she said.

“This new system will not only obviate the need of the member moving from desk to desk but also save a substantial amount of time.”

She said the Lok Sabha Secretariat has brought out revised edition of various publications, including the Constitution, the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, Directions by the Speaker, Hand Book for members and other introductory books on Parliament for information and use of new members.

“In its mission to make the Parliament a paperless institute, the Lok Sabha Secretariat has introduced some changes in regard to the publication which are given to the new members.

“While revised and updated volumes of Constitutions, Rules, Directions and some other publications are being given to them in hard copies, several other publications are being given to the members this time in a pen drive as soft copies for their convenience,” Shrivastava added.

Updated on: May 22, 2019 at 18:14 IST | Published on: May 22, 2019 at 16:38 IST

IANS