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Showpiece museums a grim picture of neglect

Published: 15:04 EST, 9 May 2012 | Updated: 15:04 EST, 9 May 2012

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The country's museums, meant to showcase natural and cultural heritage riches, have suffered from years of poor upkeep.

A measure as elementary as the physical verification of artefacts has not been undertaken at the Capital's National Museum and National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) since 2000 and 2003, respectively.

This was one of several shortcomings highlighted by the parliamentary standing committee on culture in its report.

National Museum in Delhi

The panel slammed the functioning of Indian museums, observing: 'These are not functioning as desired.'

It inspected National Museum and concluded that while there was no dearth of funds, there was a lack of 'efficient manpower' and money was lying unutilised.

The committee found that many posts lay vacant for interminable periods, the skills of basic technical staff did not conform to international standards and the venues as well as items on display were wallowing in neglect.

Furthermore, the galleries remained shut most of the time and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) did not finish civic jobs promptly thereby bringing down visitor numbers, the MPs pointed out.

Citing the case of poor management at National Museum and NGMA, the panel noted: 'The physical verification of museum objects is important to avoid misuse and theft of national treasures...If it is not done for long periods, fixing responsibility would be a daunting task.'

The committee members did not receive satisfactory replies on what prevented museums from hiring personnel for pending vacant slots.

Of the 2,313 museum posts, only 1,746 were filled and over 30 per cent lay unoccupied.

The panel was also of the view that the managerial and technical staff at all museums were not on a par with those in the US and Europe.