New Delhi, Jul 23 (PTI) The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has started vacating the British-era North Block located in the Raisina Hills and shifting to a new building along the Kartavya Path, near India Gate, as part of the Narendra Modi government’s Central Vista plan to refurbish the heart of the capital.
While Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan and a few joint secretary and additional secretary-level officers and their staff have already shifted to the newly-constructed CCS-3 building, the remaining officers and other employees will shift in the next few days, sources said on Wednesday.
The office of Union Home Minister Amit Shah is yet to be shifted but a process is underway, they added.
The MHA has been allocated nearly 350 rooms in the new building.
The red-sandstone building in the North Block has been home to the MHA for about 90 years.
The identical buildings — North Block and South Block — housing key offices like the Prime Minister’s Office and the ministries of home, finance, defence and external affairs will completely be vacated once the new buildings are ready.
According to the government’s plan, a mega museum — Yuge Yugeen Bharat — will come up in the North Block and the South Block once the offices are vacated.
It will be one of the largest museums in the world with an area of 1.55 lakh square metres and 950 rooms.
British architect Herbert Baker had designed the secretariat buildings, including the North Block and the South Block, along with the Parliament House and many bungalows. Baker had collaborated with Edwin Lutyens on the overall plan for New Delhi.
As a part of the Central Visa project, the Centre had proposed a CCS of 10 office buildings and a conference centre along the Kartavya Path to accommodate all ministries. The first three of these office buildings have been constructed.
According to a government order, CCS-3 will house the office of the principal scientific adviser and the ministries of external affairs, petroleum and natural gas, micro, small and medium enterprises, rural development and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), besides the MHA. PTI ACB RC
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