Ahead of hearing in Supreme Court, Government sets aside space for Central Secretariat Library

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has allocated space for the Central Secretariat Library — currently housed in Shastri Bhawan, which is set to be demolished as part of the Central Vista redevelopment plan — at the government office complex in Netaji Nagar, The Indian Express has learnt.

On September 30, The Indian Express had reported that while all ministries and departments had been asked by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) to vacate Shastri Bhawan by the end of September so that construction work could start, the library was yet to be allocated adequate space.

Taking suo motu cognizance of The Indian Express report, the Supreme Court, on October 5, had asked the government to file a detailed affidavit on its plans to relocate the library, including the area to be allocated and “actual layout plans”. The court is set to hear the matter on November 16.

In an office memorandum issued on November 6, the Directorate of Estates, under MoHUA, said space had been allocated for the library at the Government Pool Office Accommodation (GPOA)-2, Netaji Nagar, which is about 7 kilometres from its current location.

“The competent authority has approved the relocation of Central Secretariat Library, Ministry of Culture, to the newly built GPOA Block-02, Netaji Nagar,” it said.

According to the office memorandum, the library has been allocated several rooms on the ground floor of the building. While it did not mention the size of the area, MoHUA sources said around 4,000 square metres of space had been set aside for the library.

In January, the Directorate of Estates had allocated two rooms, covering about 300 square metres in total, for the library at Kartavya Bhawan-2. This was rejected by the Ministry of Culture as inadequate. The library currently occupies four floors of Shastri Bhawan, spanning nearly 5,500 square metres and containing 8.5 lakh books.

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When the Central Vista redevelopment project was being planned, the Ministry of Culture had written to MoHUA seeking adequate space for the library in the revamped Central Secretariat.

“It is, therefore, requested that an overall space of approx 5,466 square metres may be allocated in the Common Central Secretariat… with architecturally theme based building in view of easy and smooth access of (the) library to all ministries/ departments located in the Central Vista,” Govind Mohan, who was then the Culture Secretary, had written to MoHUA on September 12, 2023. Mohan is currently the Home Secretary.

MoHUA had written to the Culture Ministry on January 16 this year saying that “the competent authority” had approved allocation of two rooms in KB-2 for the library.

In a post on X on October 1, MoHUA had said: “Contrary to a few reports, it is clarified that space for the Central Secretariat Library has been provided for in the Kartavya Path redevelopment plan. The necessary process for construction of the library is underway.”

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The library dates back to 1891, when it was founded as the Imperial Secretariat Library in Kolkata. When the British decided to move the capital to Delhi in 1911, the library was shifted to the Old Secretariat Building in Civil Lines first and then to North Block when it was constructed in the 1930s. After Independence, the library was renamed Central Secretariat Library and has been located at Shastri Bhawan since 1969.

Shastri Bhawan and Krishi Bhawan are set for demolition as part of the Central Vista redevelopment plan. Two new office complexes will be constructed at the site. The CPWD recently awarded the contract for redevelopment of the two buildings to L&T, which said in a press release on October 21 that the “project is scheduled for completion in 24 months, followed by a five-year operation and maintenance period.”