Modi moves into his North Block office in new CMO

Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Monday moved into his new plush office,but what remains unchanged is his sitting arrangement.

Written by Hiral Dave

Gandhinagar | April 16, 2013 02:37 AM IST

3 min read

Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Monday moved into his new plush office,but what remains unchanged is his sitting arrangement. Much like his previous office in Block I at Sardar Patel secretariat complex on Indira Gandhi Road in Gandhinagar,Modis chair in the new office too faces north,which is considered auspicious according to vaastu shastra.

Rs 150 crore-Swarnim Sankul-I,one of the new twin buildings that dot each side of Vidhansabha in the secretariat,is the first structure in the campus with a balcony. This sprawling balcony is attached to Modis office on third floor of this five-storey building with box-like exterior. The balcony gives him the view of Mahatma Mandir,a convention and memorial inspired from life and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi. The building,named Swarnim Sankul-I after the golden jubilee of Gujarats foundation,is also unofficially called North Block,given its northward face in the sprawling campus.

Modi occupied the huge chair in the new office soon after the inauguration Monday,the fifth day of Chaitri Navratras,considered to be auspicious. One of the senior-most class-IV employees Savji Damor lit the lamp for the new building after Modi presided over the unveiling of the plaque. Modi,who is said to be observing Navratra fast,offered sugar pieces to visitors,who came to convey their wishes.

Embossed in the wall behind his chair is a huge map of Gujarat,even as four photo frames,hanged side by side,on the right side of map featured Sardar Vallabh Patel,former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee,President Pranab Mukherjee and first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. While all the ministers have got cream-coloured window blinds,only the CM office has white blinds that goes well with light orange wall.

The reception area,on the ground and first floors,gives visitors the feel of a corporate office. On the left side of the round reception table on the ground floor,on display are the awards that the Gujarat government has won so far.

The second and fourth floors have cabinet ministers offices. Cabinet ministers also occupied their offices Monday. In Swarnim-I,each cabinet ministers office is like a small enclave. Apart from a huge chamber with an ante-chamber for minister,each ministerial enclave has a couple of offices for its staff along with a small conference room. The Administration and Information Technology data centre occupies the top floor.

There are five auditoriums-cum-halls in the new building. Four of them have been named after major rivers: Narmada,Tapi,Sabarmati and Mahi. The Cabinet meeting hall has been christened Girnar Khand. A foreign delegation from Argentina on a courtesy call on the Chief Minister was the first to be welcomed at the new CMO Monday

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Swarnim-II,which is under construction,will have offices of ministers of states and secretaries. Constructed by Larson and Turbo and designed by Ahmedabad-based architects,it took about a year to complete. The new building is airy and energy-efficient with a rainwater-harvesting system. It is very simple in design. The new building was required to keep in consideration expansions each and every department owing to overall growth of the state, said finance minister Nitin Patel.