The sprawling post-independence bureaucratic complex was portrayed as a living museum of misery. Pathetic and structurally compromised civil structures, dangling internet cables, dark, low-ceilinged corridors, damp seepage, and severely strained civic infrastructure had been the identity of Shastri Bhawan thus it was used as an ultimate justification for why the national capital desperately needed the state-of-the-art Central Vista Redevelopment Project.

While relatively newer, sturdier structures have been swiftly evacuated and reduced to rubble, Shastri Bhawan remains standing, stubborn and operational for another one year.