The Army Chief and the Navy Chief will move out of their respective offices in the iconic South Block by the end of this month. Located atop Raisina Hill, South Block is a British-era administrative landmark from where the two senior military leaders have operated for decades. Both chiefs have their offices on the first floor, overlooking the Central Vista leading to Rashtrapati Bhavan.Sources confirmed that the decision to relocate the offices of the two service chiefs had been taken. Army Chief Gen Dhiraj Seth, his seven Principal Staff Officers and the Vice-Chief will move from South Block to the Army’s new headquarters, Shaurya Bhavan, in Delhi Cantonment. The relocation will also cover key operational establishments, including the Army War Room and the office of the Director General of Military Operations.The Army Chief’s office has been housed in South Block since 1947.Navy Chief Admiral Krishna Swaminathan will also move out of South Block, along with his Vice-Chief and Principal Staff Officers. They will be temporarily accommodated at Sena Bhavan, located just behind South Block. Officials of the Department of Military Affairs, including the Director General of the Defence Intelligence Agency, will also move out.Both service headquarters have long operated from South Block. While most of the Army’s offices are housed in Sena Bhavan, the chiefs of both services have had their offices in the Ministry of Defence wing of South Block. The Air Chief, meanwhile, has a separate office in Vayu Bhavan, a stone’s throw from South Block. The relocation is part of the wider Central Vista Redevelopment Project and follows the shifting of government offices from the secretariat buildings on Raisina Hill.The Home and Finance ministries have already moved out of North Block, while almost all offices of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office have vacated South Block.The Defence Ministry has temporarily shifted to Kartavya Bhavan 2 and will move permanently to Kartavya Bhavan 6 and 7 once the buildings are completed. The new complexes will also house additional offices for the service chiefs.One practical consequence of the relocation will be the greater distance from the Defence Ministry. Until the new buildings are ready, the Army Chief will have to travel from Delhi Cantonment to meet the Defence Minister and other senior officials.The Army headquarters project dates back several years. When the foundation stone for the new Army headquarters complex was laid in February 2020, the Army’s offices were spread across eight locations in the Capital.These included South Block, Sena Bhavan, the Second World War-era ‘huts’ near India Gate, RK Puram and Shankar Vihar.