PMO To Shift Out Of Iconic South Block To Modern Executive Enclave

This is the first time since the country’s independence that the PMO will shift out of the South Block, which will be converted into a museum, a government official aware of the plan told The Secretariat.  

The state-of-the-art building, tentatively named the ‘Executive Enclave’, is part of the larger Central Vista project, which comprises 10 Kartavya Bhavans, besides the Vice President’s Enclave, Executive Enclave, and one serving as the Prime Minister’s residence. The PM’s residence is being built just opposite the Executive Enclave.

The official also added that the construction of the Executive Enclave is almost complete, and only the final touches are being given now.  

New Buildings, Global Projection

The complex will house the PMO and other top government offices, including the Cabinet Secretariat, the National Security Council Secretariat, and a conference facility, the official said.

The new would-be residence of the Prime Minister will be to the north of the PMO, just a stone’s throw away, unlike the present one — 5-7 Lok Kalyan Marg, which is nearly a kilometre away from the present South Block office.

Incidentally, the would-be PMO will face the north across the iconic Vijay Chowk, which stages the Beating Retreat ceremony every year. Further north are the new and old Parliament complexes.

The official pointed out that there was an urgent need for constructing new premises for the PMO and other critical offices of India’s governance architecture, as not only were the existing ones old, they also faced space management constraints.

The new smart buildings also reflect modern India’s growing stature on the global stage.

A Place For Public Service

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his first address to the PMO after taking charge in 2014, had said he wanted the PMO to become a place for public service. “The PMO should be ‘people’s PMO’. It cannot be Modi’s PMO,” he had said.

Notably, just a couple of weeks ago, the Union ministries of Home Affairs and Personnel had shifted to Kartavya Bhavan-3, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated earlier this month.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the building, the Prime Minister had said India’s administrative machinery had been operating from buildings constructed during the British colonial era. He also spoke about the poor working conditions in these old buildings, which lack adequate space, lighting, and ventilation.

The Prime Minister also wondered, saying it was difficult to imagine how an important ministry like the MHA functioned for nearly 100 years from a single building with insufficient infrastructure.

According to officials, just as the Combined Central Secretariat (CSS) buildings have been named Kartavya Bhavans, the Executive Enclave, which houses the PMO, will also get a new name. Going by the trend, it could be named to reflect the spirit of sewa (service).