Fund crunch hits museum repair, artefacts gather dust

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, October 21

Precious artefacts related to the king of Jind state have been gathering dust in a locked room of the local museum that has been lying closed for the past around two years. The museum was closed for repair, but no such work has been going on there for the past four-five months due to lack of funds.

“If the authorities did not have the requisite funds, they should not have closed the museum and started repairs. Precious artefacts might get damaged in the absence of proper care,” said Karanvir Singh Sibia, chairman of the Sangrur Heritage preservation Society.

The artefacts lying in the museum include hand-made arrows, guns, swords, pistols, silver jewellery of the then queen, paintings and photographs Earlier, the museum used to attracts local visitors and those from nearby areas.

The museum is located in Banasar garden, which also has another heritage site—Sangrur Baradari. The place is frequented by a large number of sportspersons and morning and evening walkers every day. The locked museum has been earning a bad name to the state government.

“I have been a witness to the golden days of this museum when even people from other districts used to visit it. Lack of care by the authorities has ruined it, “said Kulwinder Singh, a retired government employee.

Museum in charge Jaswinder Singh confirmed that no repair work had been going on there for the past four-five months due to lack funds.

“The Cultural Affairs Archaeology and Archives Museum, Punjab, had started repairs, but the work was stopped due to lack of funds. Artefacts are lying locked in a room and we do not have the permission to show them to anyone,” he said.