The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), currently located in the South Block, is set to shift to Executive Enclave, a few hundred metres away, next month, sources in the government said. The Executive Enclave has been readied to house the PMO and other top government offices under the Central Vista project. Besides the PMO, the Executive Enclave has the Cabinet Secretariat, National Security Council Secretariat and a conferencing facility. The new PMO is also closer to the Prime Minister’s residence.
The need for the construction of new office buildings was primarily due to space constraints. The old buildings did not have modern facilities. It was felt that the Indian government needed new buildings in sync with its image as an emerging economic power.
Earlier, the ministries of Home Affairs and Personnel were shifted to Kartavya Bhavan-3, which the Prime Minister inaugurated this month. In his address after inaugurating the building, the Prime Minister said India’s administrative machinery had been operating from buildings constructed during the British colonial era. He spoke about the poor working conditions in these old buildings, which lack adequate space, lighting, and ventilation. He also said it is difficult to imagine how an important ministry like the Ministry of Home Affairs functioned for nearly 100 years from a single building with insufficient infrastructure.
The new PMO is in the Executive Enclave (circled in black), close to the North and South blocks
The new PMO, officials say, could get a new name in keeping with the trend of the Centre naming all Central Vista projects. According to reports, the new PMO could be named to reflect the spirit of sewa (service. The Prime Minister, in his first address to the PMO after taking charge in his third term, had said he wants the PMO to become a place for public service. “The PMO should be ‘people’s PMO’. It cannot be Modi’s PMO,” he said.
With the shifting of major offices to new buildings, the North Block and South Block, the nerve centre of the Indian government for nearly eight decades, will be turned into a public museum called ‘Yuge Yugeen Bharat Sangrahalaya’. According to the government, an agreement has been signed between National Museum and France Museums Development for cooperation in the development of the museum. “This project (is) aimed at showcasing India’s cultural heritage – a celebration of timeless & eternal India to explore our proud past, illuminate the present & imagine the bright future,” the government has said.