A library without a home speaks of a larger absence

Why in the News

The Central Secretariat Library (CSL) is yet to find a new home as Shastri Bhawan, its base since 1969, makes way for the Central Vista redevelopment. The delay raises the question of whether a project rebuilding the seat of government has planned for the institutions that hold its memory.

What is the Central Secretariat Library, and why does it matter?

1. Colonial origin: The CSL was established in 1891 as the Imperial Secretariat Library in Calcutta. It moved with the capital to Delhi and was renamed after Independence.
2. Collection: It holds over 8.5 lakh books and documents, including material dating back to 1702.
3. Institutional memory: The CSL serves as a working archive of the Indian state, keeping its institutional memory, the record of past government work and decisions. It is like the government’s own record room.
4. The takeaway: Leaving an institution of archival importance without a secure home is a troubling statement of priorities for a project of such scale and ambition.

Why was the displacement foreseeable?

1. Known relocation: Central Vista is a long-term project involving some of the country’s most storied buildings, so relocation was not an unforeseen complication.
2. Early request: As early as 2023, the Ministry of Culture sought matching space in the new Common Central Secretariat, the heart of the redevelopment.
3. Statement of priorities: By deciding which institutions get space in a new administrative centre, the government signals what belongs at the centre of public life.

What do other heritage relocations in the project show?

1. Earlier controversies: The demolition of the National Archives Annexe and the relocation of the National Museum‘s collections drew public debate and expert opinion.
2. New museum: The National Museum’s collections are moving to the Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum, coming up in the North and South Block buildings.
3. Preservation needs: Those debates showed the need for proper inventories and cataloguing, conservation facilities, climate-controlled storage for fragile and rare material, digitisation, trained staff and public access.
4. Planning lapse: Such provisions should have been integral to the project from the outset.

Why can a temporary move become permanent?

1. Tulsi Sadan precedent: The CSL’s regional languages section, the Tulsi Sadan Library, was temporarily shut in 2011 for construction of the Mandi House Metro station.
2. Stored, not served: Its contents were housed in the National School of Drama premises, and the library remains shut to this day.
3. Displacement lesson: When institutions are displaced without a durable plan, temporary arrangements can become permanent absences.

Challenges

1. No fixed destination: Moving lakhs of rare documents into interim storage without a final site raises the risk of damage and loss.
2. Interrupted access: Officials and researchers lose access to records while a collection sits in storage.
3. Split responsibility: The library’s ministry seeks the space, but another ministry redevelops the buildings, so no single agency owns the relocation.
4. Irreversible damage: Without digitised copies, any harm to fragile originals during a move cannot be undone.

Way Forward

1. Permanent allotment: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs should allot the CSL space before Shastri Bhawan is vacated.
2. Collections protocol: Make cataloguing and climate-controlled storage a precondition for vacating any building that houses archives.
3. Digitise first: Digitise rare and fragile material before any move.
4. Reopen Tulsi Sadan: Set a dated plan to reopen the Tulsi Sadan Library.

Conclusion

The CSL’s displacement shows a redevelopment that planned new buildings ahead of the institutions meant to fill them. Whether the library gets a permanent address before Shastri Bhawan is vacated will show if Central Vista avoids repeating its own past mistakes.

Back2Basics: Central Vista Redevelopment Project

1. What it is: A project to rebuild India’s central administrative area in New Delhi, along the stretch between Rashtrapati Bhavan and India Gate.
2. Nodal ministry: It is executed under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
3. Key components: They include a new Parliament building, inaugurated in 2023, and the redeveloped Kartavya Path, formerly Rajpath.
4. Launch: The project was announced in 2019.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2018, GS1, 10 marks] Safeguarding the Indian art heritage is the need of the moment. Discuss.”