Parliament to Return to Singh Durbar After 17 Years as New Building Nears Completion

The Parliament session, which has been held outside of Singh Durbar since Jestha 2065 BS following the Constituent Assembly member elections, is set to convene in its own building in Singh Durbar after 17 years. Following the House of Representatives elections held on Falgun 21, the parliamentary session will now take place in its own under-construction building in Singh Durbar. The oath-taking ceremony for the 275 newly elected members of the House of Representatives in that same building is scheduled for Chaitra 12 at 2 PM.

After the formation of the 601-member Constituent Assembly through the elections held on Chaitra 28, 2064 BS, the sessions of Parliament were held at the International Convention Centre in New Baneshwor because the old Parliament (Gallery Meeting) building was too small. Prior to the Constituent Assembly, parliamentary sessions were held in the old Parliament (Gallery Meeting) building in Singh Durbar. Nepal's parliamentary history, which began in 2016 BS, started from that very building.

The building of the International Convention Centre in Baneshwor was destroyed by fire during the J&J movement on Bhadra 23 and 24 last year. The National Assembly meeting has been temporarily held in the Agriculture Committee meeting room in Singh Durbar since Magh 4.

The Federal Parliament Secretariat had signed an agreement with the International Convention Centre Development Committee in Jestha 2065 BS to pay an annual rent of Rs 5.60 million, including operational costs and staff deployment, for the Constituent Assembly meetings. According to Dipendra Bikram Singh, Senior Program Coordinator of the committee, this rent increased by 10 percent every year, reaching an annual rate of Rs 16.50 million by last Ashoj.

Coordinator Singh stated that the Secretariat utilized the main hall, eight different halls, VIP rooms, parking, gardens, and other facilities spread across 153 ropanis of land for parliamentary activities. Following the J&J movement, the Parliament Secretariat published a notice and unilaterally canceled the agreement starting from Ashoj last year.

Since the construction of the main hall in the under-construction Parliament building in Singh Durbar will take some time, the Federal Parliament Secretariat has announced that it will use the multi-purpose hall for the immediate term. Secretariat Spokesperson Joint Secretary Ekram Giri informed that an alternative hall has been arranged for the oath-taking and initial meetings. He mentioned that the alternative arrangement was made because the main hall will take some time to be ready.

Preparations are underway to summon the House of Representatives meeting after the Election Commission publishes the final results. For this purpose, the program for administering the oath to the newly elected senior-most member of the House of Representatives, Arjun Narsingh KC, by President Ramchandra Paudel at Shital Niwas, the President's Office, has been scheduled for Wednesday.

Furthermore, Spokesperson Giri stated that the senior-most member KC will administer the oath to all newly elected members of the House of Representatives in the new Parliament building on Chaitra 12. According to Article 93 of the Constitution of Nepal, the President must summon the session of the Federal Parliament within 30 days from the date of the declaration of the final results of the House of Representatives election.

The foundation stone for the new Parliament building in Putali Bagaincha, Singh Durbar, was laid on Ashoj 1, 2076 BS. According to Roshan Shrestha, Deputy Director General and Project Director of the Urban Development and Building Construction Department, most of the building's work is complete, with only some technical work remaining.

According to the department, the estimated cost for the civil construction of the Parliament building is around Rs 5.50 to 600 million, with an additional cost of Rs 2.34 billion for the 'interior' construction. Once the new Parliament building, being constructed on an area of over 151 ropanis, is ready, all activities of the Federal Parliament will be operated from this new structure.

It will include 12 buildings such as the House of Representatives and National Assembly buildings, VIP rooms, and other offices. There are eight main buildings within the Parliament complex. Inside the building, there will be a joint 'lobby' with a seating capacity of 350, and offices for 10 parliamentary groups of various sizes. Additionally, four extra VIP rooms, two Parliament Secretariat buildings, and a Parliament 'library' have been constructed.