Delhi’s Iconic Buildings to Be Demolished for Central Vista Project

Raksha Bhavan, which houses the accommodation suites of officers attached with the prestigious National Defence College (NDC), as well as Transport Bhavan (office of the road transport & shipping and tourism ministries) and Shram Shakti Bhavan (which houses the labour, water resources and power ministries), are all set to be demolished under the controversial Central Vista project. Transport Bhavan and Shram Shakti Bhavan will make way for chambers for MPs next to the proposed new Parliament building, while Raksha Bhavan will be replaced by the common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings that will house the offices of all Central ministries. The proposal has been approved by the urban affairs and the defence ministries. The much criticised Central Vista project -- which envisions the building of a new Parliament House, a new accommodation for the Prime Minister and offices of all Central ministries at the 3 km stretch between Rashtrapati Bhavan and India Gate -- entails shifting the entire staff of these ministries as well as officers’ suites of the NDC to the under construction Grameen Vikas Bhavan, which was earlier supposed to be the new address of the rural development ministry. The entire cost of shifting the staff of the ministries as well as that of the NDC officers’ suites to the under-construction erstwhile Grameen Vikas Bhavan and its fresh construction will come to around Rs 350 crores, the sources added. They claimed that this cost woill be less than the cost of building the new office of the rural development ministry. The Central Vista project has been shrouded in controversy ever since it was officially announced in September last year. It has faced allegations ranging from seeking hasty approvals, lack of transparency and absence of public consultation, and seeking the advice of experts as well as not taking the all-important approval of Parliament, and going ahead with it despite the fact that the coronavirus pandemic is raging in the country.