Shastri Bhawan to be razed, Satish Gujral murals to find new home

According to government officials, the Ministry of Culture, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) and Gujral Foundation are currently working on a plan to move the ceramic tile murals, spanning the height of the seven-storey building, which were installed on the facade of Shastri Bhawan in 1968. The final place for the murals has not been decided yet, they said.

When reached for comment, Mohit Gujral, son of Satish Gujral and the co-founder of the Gujral Foundation, said: “The National Gallery of Modern Art has been consulting conservation experts to determine the most appropriate methodology for undertaking this complex exercise and has remained in touch with the Gujral Foundation wherever necessary during the process.”

Kishore Singh, an independent art consultant and the curator of the Satish Gujral retrospective at NGMA earlier this year marking the artist’s centennial, said the Shastri Bhawan murals were among several installed by the artist in the 1960s.

“Satish Gujral had gone to study mural-making in Mexico in the 1950s from Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros. He was the first Indian artist to go on a scholarship to study mural-making. When he came back, he started making his murals using ceramic tiles. He made murals for the Delhi High Court, Baroda House and Shastri Bhawan. If his murals are being removed and relocated, it is a progressive step and sets a good precedent,” Singh said.

With the work on the buildings likely to start soon, the murals are expected to be removed within a month.

Under the government’s Central Vista plan, 10 new Common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings have been proposed to house all Union Ministries. The new buildings are to come up at the site of existing offices and other government buildings. Last month, Nirman Bhawan became the first of the old office buildings to be demolished. The demolition of Udyog Bhawan, Shastri Bhawan and Krishi Bhawan are expected to start soon.

Started in 2019, the Central Vista plan includes the construction of the new Parliament building, Vice-President’s Enclave and Executive Enclave (Prime Minister’s Office, Cabinet Secretariat and the National Security Council Secretariat). Of the 10 CCS buildings, three have been completed, while tendering or construction of the remaining seven are underway. The construction of the Prime Minister’s residence is also underway.

As of February this year, according to a reply by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in Parliament, the total sanctioned cost of the projects, including Parliament, Vice-President’s Enclave and Kartavya Bhawan, was Rs 13,169.61 crore.