Statues of freedom fighters and national symbols spread across the Parliament complex have been shifted to a new area on the Parliament premises, Prerna Sthal, after discussions with various stakeholders, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said on Sunday.

The relocation of the statues was part of a landscaping and beautification project, he said.

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Addressing reporters, Birla also assured that discussions were held from time to time with various stakeholders regarding the relocation of statues as such decisions were the purview of the office of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

“None of the statues were removed, they were relocated. There is no need to be political about this,” the outgoing speaker said when asked about the opposition's criticism of the relocation of the statues.

“From time to time, I have discussed these issues with various stakeholders. People felt that installing these statues at one place would help in better disseminating information about their lives and achievements,” Birla said.

The statues of Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar, which used to stand prominently in the Parliament grounds, were places where opposition leaders gathered to protest against the government.

Congressman Jairam Ramesh had said that the purpose of this relocation and the choice of this pompous name was to prevent the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Ambedkar from being prominently located right in front of the Parliament building, where MPs could hold peaceful and democratic protests if necessary.

Vice President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Jagdeep Dhankhar, will inaugurate the Prerna Sthal on Sunday, to which all members of Parliament are invited.

Birla said that the Prerna Sthal – located on the lawns between the old Parliament building and the Parliament Library – would be open to visitors throughout the year and that commemorative days would be held there to honour the contribution of heads of state to nation-building.

The outer lawns of the Parliament complex feature statues of national icons such as BR Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Maharana Pratap, Hemu Kalani, Mahatma Basaveshwara, Kittur Rani Channamma, Motilal Nehru, Maharaj Ranjit Singh, Durga Malla, Birsa Munda, Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj and Chaudhary Devi Lal.

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“An action plan has been drawn up to make the life stories and messages of these great Indians accessible to visitors using new technologies,” the Lok Sabha Speaker said.

Birla said that during the construction work on the new Parliament building, the statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru and Chaudhary Devi Lal were shifted to other locations within the complex.

Lawns and gardens have been created around the statues at Prerna Sthal so that visitors can easily pay their last respects and get inspiration from their lives by accessing information through QR codes, Birla said.

When asked why the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) had taken over the security of the entire Parliament complex, Birla said this was done so that the responsibility could be entrusted to a single agency.

Previously, the Parliament Security Service, the Delhi Police and the Central Reserve Police Force were responsible for the security of the Parliament complex and there was some overlap in responsibilities, he said.

The Lok Sabha Speaker said that CISF personnel would be trained to deal with parliamentarians as the security system of Parliament was different from that used to guard other buildings.