Lok Sabha Question No. 3703 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-19
Subject: Upgradation of National Museums and Children Museums
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: ANJU BALA, Tejpratap Singh,Yadav, B. SREERAMULU

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3703 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.03.2018

## UPGRADATION OF NATIONAL MUSEUMS AND CHILDREN MUSEUMS

## 3703. SHRIMATI ANJU BALA: SHRI TEJ PRATAP SINGH YADAV: SHRI B. SRIRAMULU:

Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to State:

- (a) whether  the  Government  is  aware  about  the  pathetic  condition  of  National  Museums  and Children Museum, Delhi and if so, details thereof;
- (b) whether museums in our country lack state-of-art infrastructure and viewer friendly facilities and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether there is a need to modernise the museums to bring them at par with museums across the world;
- (d) if so, the details thereof along with  the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (e) whether the Government has any plan/scheme to upgrade the infrastructure of museums in the country  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  including  funds  sanctioned  and  works  undertaken  in  this regard during the last three years; and
- (f) whether  public  awareness  campaign  is  required  to  encourage  younger  generation  to  visit museums  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  in  this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (IC) CULTURE AND MINISTER OF STATE FOR ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE MINISTRY (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

- (a) and (b) : There are six national level museums, namely National Museum (New Delhi), National Gallery of Modern Art (branches at Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai), Indian Museum (Kolkata), Victoria Memorial  Hall  (Kolkata),  Salarjung  Museum  (Hyderabad)  and  Allahabad  Museum  (Allahabad), which  are  under  the  administrative  control  of  the  Ministry  of  Culture.    These  museums  are providing  visitor  friendly  facilities  such  as  sitting  arrangement,  drinking  water,  cafeteria,  toilets, lifts,  ramp,  wheel  chairs  for  disabled  persons  etc.  Ministry  of  Culture  has  no  Children  museum under its administrative control.
- (c) and  (d)  :  Upgradation  and  modernization  of  the  museums  under  the  administrative  control  of Ministry  of  Culture  is  taken  up  on  a  continuous  basis  to  maintain  them  in  good  condition.  The government has taken a number of steps such as storage management, proper display, facilities for visitors, publicity, capacity building, security etc. to keep the museums at par with the museums across the world.
- (e) Ministry of Culture operates 'Museum Grant Scheme', under which financial assistance is provided to State Governments, voluntary institutions, Societies and trusts registered as a society under the Indian Societies Act of 1860  (XXI) or a similar legislation of the state governments  for modernization and development of existing museums.  The details of funds sanctioned during last three years is given below:
- (f) The public awareness campaign is being carried out by museums under the administrative control of Ministry of Culture to attract younger generation to visit museums through their website and Social  Media like  Facebook, Youtube, Twitter etc. The museums organize programmes for youth and  children  such  as  Summer  Camps,  Workshops,  Seminars,  Art  appreciation  courses,  Special weeks etc. which are publicized.

| Year    |   Funds sanctioned (Rs. in crores) |   No. of museums in which works undertaken |
|---------|------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| 2014-15 |                               21.5 |                                         23 |
| 2015-16 |                               27.1 |                                         41 |
| 2016-17 |                               48.9 |                                         38 |