Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday said people of the country have come together to face the COVID-19 pandemic and expressed confidence that India will successfully overcome the challenge with everyone's efforts.
He also congratulated people on the 68th anniversary of the first sitting of Parliament and said "today is a momentous day for the Indian democracy".
"People of our great nation have collectively come together to face it and with the united efforts of countrymen, we will be successful in overcoming the COVID-19 epidemic too," he said.
The first sitting of both the Houses of Parliament - Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha - was held after Independence on May 13, 1952.
In the last seven decades, the country has surmounted innumerable obstacles and has successfully safeguarded and consolidated its Constitution and the democratic principles of governance, Birla said in an official statement issued by Lok Sabha Secretariat.
He said Parliament has been playing a pivotal role in realising the cherished ideals of the Constitution, participatory democracy, social justice and ensuring that citizens get their rightful economic, social, political and cultural rights.
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On the occasion, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Prahlad Joshi, Ministers of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal V Muraleedharan visited the historic Central Hall of Parliament House and Chambers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Naidu and Birla discussed about various memories and experiences of the first sittings of the two Houses, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said in the statement.