Indian Museum to undergo changes

In order to carry out repair and restoration works of the 144-year-old Indian Museum, the director of the museum has requested to the Ministry of Culture to grant a sum of Rs 300 crores. The museum authority wants to restore and repair the administrative block, demolish the old staff quarters and construct a building instead to create an additional space for displaying artefacts. Rajesh Purohit, Director of the Museum has planned a project for the next five years for the restoration works to be completed. He said, “This is part of the five-year plan that the ministry asks every institution under it to formulate for a continuous and comprehensive development plan instead of piecemeal effort as in the case of the modernization and renovation carried out during the bicentennial celebrations of the museum. The focus of the plan will be conservation of the heritage building, including the quadrangle corridors, galleries, conservation lab, storage and green space. Besides, we will also conserve and improve the second block of the old administrative building and demolish the old staff quarters to create more display space”. The museum currently has 1.08 lakh artefacts but can only display a handful of it due to lack of new galleries. The administration is currently focusing more on creating new space due to this. A committee will be submitting a detailed project report for the restoration of the museum to the Ministry of Culture for sanction of the required grant.