The new arrangement will ensure that the BMC has total control of the museum and the activities that go on there. “We will also create specific criteria for the post of museum director and appoint one on the basis of merit. Only those eligible will be taken on board,” said a senior civic official.
In a setback to the trust running Byculla’s Bhau Daji Lad museum, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is going to take operational control of the museum. BMC chief Ajoy Mehta told a group of civic leaders in a meeting that the civic body would soon dissolve the existing trust and set up a new mechanism to run the museum.
The new arrangement will ensure that the BMC has total control of the museum and the activities that go on there. “We will also create specific criteria for the post of museum director and appoint one on the basis of merit. Only those eligible will be taken on board,” said a senior civic official.
In October last year, the BMC had scrapped its 12-year-old resolution with the trust amid a row over a proposal to use a Byculla playground for the museum's expansion. Mehta told the group leaders that a new plan for the museum would be ready by next month. “We will review all conditions of the current agreement and make the necessary changes,” Mehta said.
“The BMC must have more say in the affairs of the museum. We were only fighting for the playground and we are not against the expansion or development of the museum. We should also get a new museum director,” said Sandeep Deshpande, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) group leader in BMC.
In 2003, a corporation resolution (CR) led to a tri-party agreement between the BMC, the Bajaj Foundation and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage. The three formed a trust for efficient management of the museum's affairs. The mayor was the trust's chairperson. At the moment, the museum’s day-to-day activities are looked after by honorary director Tasneem Zakaria Mehta. The civic group leaders, however, have demanded her ouster.
“BMC should take over the management. Mehta should be shown the door since the civic general body has already passed the proposal to scrap the agreement,” said Rais Shaikh, Samajwadi Party (SP) group leader in BMC.
“I have not been informed about anything. If they have an issue with the museum’s functioning, they can come and check. We have restored a dead institution and given it back to the city. It's is now a top class institution which has very high footfall too. If they find any lacuna with the way we are running the museum we are willing to listen and reach out,” Mehta said.
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