Several artifacts remain packed in bags for want of space
nInsufficient footfall creates hurdles in obtaining assistance
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, June 7: The Dogra Art Museum in Jammu has not been able to avail benefits under the Union Ministry of Culture’s Museum Grant Scheme primarily because a large number of artifacts remain packed in bags due to inadequate display space leading to visitor footfall much below the minimum threshold prescribed in the scheme guidelines.
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The Dogra Art Museum, previously known as Dogra Art Gallery, was inaugurated in Gandhi Bhawan, Jammu by Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, on April 18, 1954. In 1992, it was upgraded to a full-fledged museum and relocated to the Pink Hall of the historic Mubarak Mandi Complex by the then Governor of erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir G C Saxena. Later, in 2020 the museum was temporarily shifted to the Army Headquarters building within the same complex to facilitate restoration work at Mubarak Mandi complex.
“At that time, a large number of artifacts were kept packed in bags primarily due to lack of space in the Army Headquarters building for proper display and the situation has remained unchanged since then”, reliable sources told EXCELSIOR, adding “this is mainly because the Culture Department has not made any sincere effort to arrange additional space or to relocate the museum to a more suitable location”.
“Due to the Culture Department’s inability to display the artifacts that remain packed in bags, coupled with the current location of the Dogra Art Museum, visitor footfall has remained insignificant,” the sources further said while disclosing that against the mandatory requirement of one lakh visitors per annum, the Dogra Art Museum records only a few thousand visitors annually. However, they admitted that if the artifacts-many of which have remained out of public view until now-are properly displayed, they have the potential to attract a large number of visitors.
The overall adverse impact of the prevailing situation is that Dogra Art Museum has not been able to avail benefits of the Union Ministry of Culture’s Museum Grant Scheme. Under this scheme, financial assistance is provided for the development of existing museums, particularly those having collections of antiquities, paintings, folk art, traditional crafts and related cultural artifacts.
There are three components of Museum Grant Scheme—Development and Establishment of Museums at the regional, State and district level; Digitization of Museum Collections and capacity building and training of Museum Professionals. The Dogra Art Museum is eligible under the first component as it is Government-owned and located in the capital of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
While the museum also meets the second condition of having a significant collection of objects/artifacts, it doesn’t meet the criterion of visitor footfall. The scheme clearly states: “The museum must have had an annual footfall of one lakh visitors per annum in the preceding two years”.
“It is a matter of concern that while certain private-sector museums are availing benefits under the Museum Grant Scheme, the oldest Government-owned museum has not obtained any such support till date”, sources remarked, adding “proposals to avail scheme’s benefits were submitted to the Union Ministry of Culture multiple times but each time they were same were rejected for not meeting the mandatory criterion of an annual footfall of one lakh visitors”.
Under the Museum Grant Scheme, several activities are eligible for funding to support the development and modernization of museums. These include the construction of new buildings or galleries, renovation and repair of existing infrastructure, extension of spaces and modernization of galleries. Funding can also be utilized for improving storage facilities for museum collections.
The scheme supports the publication of various museum-related materials such as catalogues, museum guides, gallery sheets, photo-index cards, picture postcards, folios containing prints of museum objects, monographs and hand lists. These publications aim to enhance public engagement and documentation of collections.
The assistance is also provided for the establishment, expansion and upgradation of conservation laboratories and libraries within museums. This includes funding for conservation projects and the acquisition of materials to support the preservation of artifacts. Additionally, grants may be used to upgrade existing museum libraries and expand their collections.
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