No Museum Grant Scheme project sanctioned for J&K in 5 years; Ladakh gets Rs 4.35 crore

Space crunch, low footfall keep Dogra Art Museum out of ambit

Mohinder Verma

JAMMU, Aug 4: Not a single project under the Union Ministry of Culture's Museum Grant Scheme was sanctioned for Jammu and Kashmir during the last five financial years, even as neighbouring Union Territory of Ladakh received Central financial assistance of Rs 4.35 crore for setting up a new museum.

The disclosure, which has raised questions over the absence of any sanctioned project from J&K despite its rich cultural, archaeological and historical heritage, was made in a written reply to a question in the Parliament by the Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

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The Ministry's State/UT-wise list of projects sanctioned under the Museum Grant Scheme during the last five years does not include a single museum from Jammu and Kashmir. In contrast, Deskid Cultural and Welfare Society of Leh (NGO) was sanctioned Rs 435.04 lakh (Rs 4.35 crore) for setting up a new museum.

According to the reply, Rs 108.76 lakh was released during 2022-23 and another Rs 87.01 lakh during 2025-26, with substantial utilization reported.

The Museum Grant Scheme is the Centre's flagship programme for strengthening museum infrastructure across the country. It provides financial assistance for establishment of new museums; development and modernization of existing museums; digitisation of museum collections; creation of virtual museums and training of museum professionals.

Under the scheme, Central assistance can extend up to Rs 15 crore for eligible Category-I projects involving new museums, with assistance of up to Rs 10 crore and Rs 5 crore for other categories. Existing museums can receive grants up to Rs 8 crore or Rs 4 crore, depending on category. Separate assistance is also available for digitisation and other museum development activities.

The scheme covers museums managed by Central and State Governments, autonomous bodies, societies, public sector undertakings, local bodies, academic institutions and registered trusts, making a wide range of institutions eligible to seek Central funding.

The absence of any sanctioned project from Jammu and Kashmir assumes significance in view of the Union Territory's vast repository of cultural and historical assets, including ancient archaeological sites, Dogra heritage, Buddhist relics, Mughal-era monuments and tribal traditions, all of which require sustained conservation and modern museum infrastructure.

Even the Dogra Art Museum in Jammu has not been able to avail benefits under the 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.

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 the 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 the 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, sources said, adding, "this is mainly because the concerned authorities have not made any sincere effort to arrange additional space or to relocate the museum to a more suitable location".

"Due to the concerned authorities' 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," official sources 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 the Dogra Art Museum has not been able to avail benefits of the Union Ministry of Culture's Museum Grant Scheme.