35% key posts vacant at Ministry of Culture

Most organisations operating under the Ministry of Culture are currently functioning with 35 per cent vacancy on key posts, a Parliamentary panel has noted. This includes all five posts of Whole Time Members of the National Monuments Authority which are vacant at the moment.

"The Committee notes that most of the organisations under the Ministry of Culture are functioning with a very high level of vacancies across Group A, B as well as C. Barring the Ministry of Culture (Establishment), all organisations have more than 35 per cent vacancies in Group A posts,” the department-related parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture, headed by YSRCP MP Vijayasai Reddy, has noted.

The ministry has 225 people working for a sanctioned strength of 312 people, while in the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), 5,816 people are currently employed for 9,265 positions that are sanctioned. The National Library has 288 employees while its total strength should be 456, while at the Anthropological Survey of India, 236 people are working against a strength of 398 people. Across nine institutions, 7,057 are employed across 11,390 positions.

The panel has also urged the government to come up with a National Policy for Excavations and Explorations with detailed discussions with appropriate stakeholders. “India has a large number of archaeological sites in the country and a high potential for archaeological excavation and exploration. In this light, the Committee feels that the present allocations being made for excavations are rather inadequate,” the panel noted.

The panel has also asked the ASI to take up a drive to have basic tourist amenities at centrally-protected monuments, and start with the UNESCO World Heritage sites. It also recommended a monument-specific conservation plan for each of the centrally-protected monuments under its protection.

“The conservation plan should outline the steps and strategies needed to preserve, restore, and maintain the particular monument. It should include an assessment of the monument’s current condition, an analysis of the potential threats and risks to the monument, and a set of specific actions that need to be taken to preserve and protect the monument,” the panel noted.