Lyalpur Museum board comes back to life

Approval of rules and regulations pending for over a decade

JARANWALA:

The Board of Governors of the Lyallpur Museum set up in 2009 has not yet approved the rules and regulations to run the administrative, financial and technical affairs of the autonomous organisation.

The Punjab Information Department had constituted the 11-member board comprising of four official and seven non-official members from the private sector, but, according to sources, its meeting has not been called during the past four and a half years.

Owing to the laxity, out of the total sanctioned strength of 20 gazette and other staff, only 12 officials have been working in the museum on daily wages for the past 12 years, while eight posts are vacant.

The fate of the daily wage staff has also been hanging in the balance due to non-regularisation of their service since 2011.

Faisalabad Division Information Director Khurshid Jillani, who is also working as the officiating additional director for the museum, said the facility had not been made functional because of lack of funds and the board of governors not having held a meeting.

He said meeting of the board had now been called on Tuesday to initiate a revitalisation and re-organisation plan for the museum and to get approval for the rules and regulations to revive and preserve the rich culture of Sandal Bar. The area was home to great heroes of resistance movements championed by Bhagat Singh, Rai Ahmad Khan Kharal and Dulla Bhatti, as well as philanthropist Sir Ganga Ram.

Read: Govt to build museum near Iqbal mausoleum

The official said a plan was afoot to acquire land to extend the museum and build a tower having multiple stories housing an administration block alongside many corners and galleries for local artists and dedicated to freedom fighters.

He said a campaign would be launched through the social media and other means to collect historical artefacts from people.

A committee would be constituted to determine the prices of the antiques given or gifted by the general public.

The official said a short film festival of documentaries on Sandal Bar’s history would be organised for students and artists. Audio and visual history of the region would be preserved and a deoxygenation laboratory established to preserve the historic assets of the museum, for which an annual development scheme costing about Rs5 million had been envisaged.

He elaborated that present area of the museum was insufficient, suggesting that the government should hand over the space of the Parveen Shakir Complex or Pakistan Model High School for shifting it.

“We have also prepared a plan to launch a double-decker museum bus and Sunday breakfast bus to promote tourism and generate financial resources for leading our museum towards self-sufficiency,” he added.

Jillani said planning was also under way to sign memorandums of understandings with organisations like press clubs, universities, commercial entities and educational institutions to explore vast areas of collaboration and organise cultural exhibitions, training sessions for students and short courses.

He also proposed that the government hand over the Allama Iqbal Library, which was earlier called coronation library, so that rare books could be preserved.

The museum’s Media Manager Shahnaz Mahmood said more permanent staff was required, including a director and curator, to manage the facility artistically and technically.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2024.