By Navneet Mishra

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS): As part of the Central Vista project, prestigious institutions like the National Museum and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, located in central Delhi, will be shifted to other locations.

The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) will be set up in a new building to be built on the Jamnagar House plot while the National Museum will be shifted to the North and South Blocks.

The National Museum that showcases artefacts associated with the history and cultural heritage of the last 5,000 years in India is located on Janpath in New Delhi. It operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture. Similarly, the Ministry of Culture also oversees the IGNCA since 1985. In 1987, the centre was made an autonomous body. It works for the promotion of academic research in the field of arts and culture.

Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs (Independent Charge) Hardeep Singh Puri told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that as part of the Central Vista project, the heritage building of the National Archives will be retained there while the National Museum will be relocated to the contiguous North and South Blocks. The IGNCA will be temporarily set up in the remodelled Janpath Hotel building and later, it will be set up in the new building constructed on the Jamnagar House plot.