Hunt on for new National Museum chief

NEW DELHI - The government is slowly - but surely - moving to streamline the activities of the National Museum, one of the most prestigious repositories of the country’s heritage, in the capital.

The museum that has been headless for the last four year is hunting for a director-general (D-G) to manage its affairs and coordinate activities of all major museums across the country, Culture Secretary Jawhar Sircar said here Monday.

“We are in a search mode. The ministry has set up a special committee to look for a D-G. India is a big country and for the last four years, we have not been able to find a D-G,” he said.

“The team is trying to do its best to find a D-G to provide the museum with leadership. The committee led by B.M. Goswami is looking into the problems of the National Museum and all the major museums in the country,” Sircar said at the inauguration of an exhibition of Inuit (Eskimo) art from Canada at the museum.

“One of the recommendations that the committee has made is to have a house-keeper who would take care of the administration,’ he said.

“For the first time in its history, the museum would get an advisory board of eminent specialists which would advise on the affairs of the museum. We are persuading some of the finest talents to join the committee and tell us what should be done,” he said.

The museum has created two posts of additional director-general - one to look into the internal affairs of the museum (collections and cataloguing) and the other to monitor the outreach initiatives of the museum.

“We are also making radical changes in the recruitment procedures to bring in the best. The museum has several administrative posts that need to be filled. We are trying to make the process of recruitment more flexible,” he said.

“Things are finally happening at the museum,” Sircar said in a lighter vein.

True to Sircar’s claim, the museum which till a few months wore a rather forlorn look, is humming with fresh activity.

“Look at the souvenir shop. It has been refurbished,” Sircar told the media.

The old souvenir kiosk on the first floor of the museum has been refurbished with fresh wooden panels and glass. The stock of the ethnic crafts is trendy and diverse.

The wooden chariot at the entrance has also been restored and encased in a glass shell for visitors, he said.

“It is wrong to say that nothing is happening. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this (Monday) morning launched a book on the ‘Monuments of Delhi’ published by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI),” he said.

The colourful coffee table book comprises photo-spreads and its text lists the monuments of Delhi under ASI’s supervision.