The Minister for Culture and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja has said that the libraries declared as ‘Institutions of National Importance’ and certain other national level libraries that are controlled by the Ministry of Culture, (including National Library, Kolkata, Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna, Rampur Raza Library, Rampur, Delhi Public Library, Delhi, Central Reference Library, Kolkata and Central Secretariat Library, New Delhi) are in a good condition, and are providing requisite services to the readers.
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today Kumari Selja said, as ‘library’ is a subject in the State list of VII Schedule of the Indian Constitution, the renovation and modernization of public libraries in the country is the responsibility of State governments. In the libraries under the Ministry of Culture, a number of measures such as modernization, renovation and preservation projects etc have been undertaken. The projects include:
i) Access to online full texts, scholarly journals.
ii) Online public access catalogue for library users.
iii) Digitization of old and rare books including manuscripts.
iv) Conservation and preservation of rare books and manuscripts using modern techniques, etc.
She said, in addition, the Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture, provides financial assistance to libraries maintained by the State Governments, and NGOs under matching and non-matching schemes for modernisation and renovation of public libraries.
Details of the assistance provided by RRRLF is as follows:
Scheme Year Grant released
(i) Assistance to Public Libraries 2008-09 Rs. 4,10,95,187/-
below District Level for 2009-10 Rs. 6,47,12,994/-
Construction of Buildings 2010-11 Rs. 10,19,94,316/-
(ii) Assistance to Public Libraries 2008-09 Rs. 1,45,21,755/-
for Modernization. 2009-10 Rs. 2,59,13,256/-
2010-11 Rs. 4,53,29,800/-
The Minister said, efforts have been made by the concerned libraries to fill up the vacant positions through Staff Selection Commission and Union Public Service Commission. In case of autonomous bodies, filling up of the vacant posts is done through open advertisement and other permissible channels.
