2 days ago
- General
- New Indian Express
Odisha museums to have dedicated curatorial cadre
BHUBANESWAR: The cabinet on Wednesday approved the formulation of Odisha Museum Curatorial Services Rules for better management of the museums in the state.
Under the new curatorial cadre, assistant curators will be appointed in all museums under the Culture department. The appointments will be made under the Directorate of Museums. Currently, the directorate is being managed (in-charge) by the Culture secretary Bijay Ketan Upadhaya. The service rules have been vetted by GA, Finance and Law departments and concurred by the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC).
There are 17 museums under the Culture department. In the existing system, there are 17 assistant curator posts in these museums of which 16 are currently vacant.
Officials of the Culture department said under the new curatorial cadre, the number of assistant curator posts will be increased to 39. A total of 38 new assistant curators will be recruited by the OPSC for the directorate of museums. The directorate will now be headed by an IAS or an OAS.
Special secretary Deba Prasad Dash said although the directorate was formed in 2023, the cadre rules were not formed for it. While earlier the assistant curator posts had no promotional benefits, they will now get a scope at promotions till superintendent of museum level. Apart from this, 10 ministerial cadre workers will be brought in and four from engineering cadre will come to the directorate on deputation from various departments. But they will not be covered under the Odisha Museum Curatorial Services Rules.
'In the absence of assistant curators now, maintenance of galleries in museums, preservation of artefacts is becoming difficult. After recruitment of the assistant curators, maintenance of museums will be streamlined,' Dash said.
The new rules come at a time when the state is planning new museums. The Culture department will soon begin work on the 'Baraputra Aitihya Gram Yojana', which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to the state. Under this, museums and interpretation centres will be set up in the first phase at the birthplaces of 21 Odia 'Baraputras' including Harekrushna Mahatab, Nityananda Mohapatra and the Pancha Sakhas, among others. An amount of `15 crore has been earmarked for each project.
Besides, Shree Jagannath museum and interpretation centre will be coming up over 100 acres in Puri.
