Kathmandu: The Parliament Secretariat is using different colours of upholstery and carpet to refurbish the House of Representatives and the National Assembly meeting halls to give them their distinct identity.

Secretariat Spokesperson Bharat Raj Gautam said sky blue upholstery and carpet would be used in the House of Representatives hall while the same would be red for the National Assembly hall.

“What we see in international practice is that mostly red colour is used in the Upper House and green in the Lower House of the Parliament. We have selected blue, which is the symbol of peace, for the Lower House and red for the Upper House, both the colours of our national flag,” Sharma explained about the selection of colours.

The Parliament Secretariat had sent its high-level officials to Australia and Ukraine, which are considered to be practicing the best form of federalism in the world, to study and observe the parliamentary practices these countries have adopted.

The study team found that the Parliament of these countries attached highest importance to research and library. Gautam said they were carrying out refurbishing work giving first priority to infrastructure. In this connection, the Parliament Secretariat is carrying out repair and refurbishing of the main meeting hall where the Constituent Assembly meetings used by held for the purpose of holding the meeting of the House of Representatives and for joint House sessions.

Similarly, the Nuptse Hall, which is just east of the main hall of the International Convention Centre Building, is being refurbished for use by the National Assembly. The hall to be used by the House of Representatives will have 334 chairs.

The estimated cost of repair and refurbishing of both the meeting halls is Rs 35 million. According to Gautam, the House of Representatives meeting hall will be ready by January 14 and that of the National Assembly would be ready by January 29.

The House of Representatives has 275 members and the National Assembly 59 members.

“We are in the preparation phase of the federal parliament session and work that need to be carried out by the secretariat before the Parliament session is called,” Gautam said.