New Delhi: Bringing the curtains down on the top executive office at the iconic, but of imperial heritage, South Block after over a century, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the last Cabinet meeting at the distinguished seat of power on Friday before moving to the new office complex Seva Teerth.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said: “The inauguration marks a transformative milestone in India’s administrative governance architecture and reflects the Prime Minister’s commitment to building a modern, efficient, accessible and citizen-centric governance ecosystem.”
The state-of-the-art PMO at Seva Teerth is located on Plots 36 and 38 behind the South Block. The security features at the complex have been designed in consultation with the Special Protection Group (SPG), the designated agency for securing the PM. The Cabinet secretariat, the National Security Council secretariat and a conferencing facility like Hyderabad House of the ministry of external affairs will be co-located with the PMO. Together, this ensemble will form the Seva Teerth.
Officials said only the Prime Minister’s Office is being shifted. The Prime Minister will continue to reside at his present residence at Lok Kalyan Marg.
A new Prime Minister’s residence is being constructed after shifting of hutments at Blocks A and B behind South Block. This new residential facility will be highly functional and equipped with all necessary amenities, including an additional facility to house the SPG. Locating offices and residences of all dignitaries in a single location is aimed at reducing redundancies of infrastructure and improving city traffic management.
The last Cabinet meeting, scheduled for 4 pm on Friday, will be followed by the PMO’s relocation to Seva Teerth. The move will mark the end of an era and the dawn of a new history as all government departments vacate the North and South blocks — the seat of power since 1921.
The government plans to convert the iconic South Block and North Block buildings into the “Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum”, a world-class museum tracing India’s civilisational journey. The relocation is part of the government’s broader initiative to decolonise India’s administrative architecture and governance. Earlier, the Union home ministry had moved out of the North Block complex at Raisina Hills in Lutyens’ Delhi.
Along with the Seva Teerth, Modi will also inaugurate Kartavya Bhavan 1 and 2. The PMO said, “For decades, several key government offices and ministries functioned from fragmented and ageing infrastructure spread across multiple locations in the Central Vista area. This dispersion led to operational inefficiencies, coordination challenges, escalating maintenance costs and sub-optimal working environments. The new building complexes address these issues by consolidating administrative functions within modern, future-ready facilities.”
The Kartavya Bhavan 1 and 2 accommodate law, defence, finance, health, agriculture, and several other key ministries.
Both building complexes feature digitally integrated offices, structured public interface zones and centralised reception facilities. Designed in accordance with 4-Star GRIHA standards, the complexes incorporate renewable energy systems, water conservation measures, waste management solutions and high-performance building envelopes.
“These measures significantly reduce environmental impact while enhancing operational efficiency,” the PMO said.
The building complexes include comprehensive safety and security frameworks, such as smart access control systems, surveillance networks and advanced emergency response infrastructure, ensuring a secure and accessible environment for officials and visitors.
The South Block was designed by British architect Herbert Baker in the early 1900s to meet the requirements of the British Raj.
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