It serves as the headquarters of the New Delhi Municipal Council and hosts the main server and the command and control centre of the civic body.

The plot where the Palika Kendra stands used to host a tin shed that contained a small makeshift cinema hall for the entertainment of construction workers, who had been employed for developing and building the new capital of the British Raj.

Public places under the jurisdiction of the NDMC, where video surveillance cameras are installed, are monitored from the command and control centre by computer professionals and Delhi Police personnel.

[9] During the COVID-19 pandemic in India, in May 2020, the headquarters was sealed for two days to be sanitised and disinfected after nine NDMC employees were found to be infected with the coronavirus.

[11][12] A grand mural depicting Mahatma Gandhi made up of terracotta kulhars on a wall of the building was unveiled by the Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu, in the presence of Union Minister Giriraj Singh and the Member of Parliament from New Delhi, Meenakshi Lekhi, during the celebration of the Gandhi Jayanti on 31 January 2019.