Cancel Rs 20000-crore Central Vista project to save funds for fight against COVID-19: Cong MP

Congress Rajya Sabha member Partap Singh Bajwa on Monday called for cancellation of the Rs 20,000-crore Central Vista redevelopment project to save funds for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Welcoming the Centre's decision to cut MPs' salaries by 30 per cent for a year and suspend MPLADS funds for two years, the parliamentarian from Punjab suggested that the President, the Vice President, the Prime Minister and all Union ministers take a 50 per cent cut in their salaries to generate more resources in the fight against COVID-19.

"I welcome recent ordinance that suspend MPLADS funds @nsitharaman ji but in doing this with aim of saving about Rs 8K Cr. Would it not be wise to also cancel Central Vista project, saving exchequer 20K Crore? Maybe Govt would do better in not being penny smart & pound foolish," he said on Twitter.

"I also urge that States should not be deprived of their due through the suspension of the MPLAD funds. If a State has 20 MPs in the Parliament, they must get their share as they would have prior to the suspension of the scheme," Bajwa said in another tweet.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus pandemic rose to 111 and the number of infections climbed to 4,281 in the country on Monday registering a record jump of 704 cases in 24 hours, according to Union Health Ministry data.

The Central Vista redevelopment project envisages a triangular Parliament building next to the existing one, a common central secretariat housing the various ministries, and a revamp of the 3km Rajpath from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate.