Indore (Madhya Pradesh): While the city is becoming a metropolis and attracting more tourists every year, the Archaeology department has failed to make the Indore Central Museum an attractive tourist destination due to lack of staff and excessive workload.
“The museum suffers from a lack of adequate staffing, which has led to a high workload for the few employees who are present. This, in turn, has resulted in mismanagement of the museum and a failure to provide visitors with accurate information or proper security,” said Prakash Pranjpai, deputy director of the directorate of archaeology, archives and museums.
“After Covid pandemic, we are facing a lot of challenges in maintaining the museum,” he added.
“Due to these reasons we are unable to upkeep the museum as we would like to” Pranjpai said.
“We are aware of the concerns and we are taking steps to improve the situation. However, due to limited resources, it may take some time to fully address all the issues” he added.
Points where museum lacks in maintenance
· Lack of proper security. Absence of security guards
· Visitors preferring zoo instead of museum
· No schools visiting the museum for educational tours
· Several statues are kept in a corner and many are incomplete (broken)
· Many sculptures do not have labelling and description
· Many are kept abandoned outside the museum building
Rs 20 too high
According to the several visitors at the museum the entry fee of Rs 20 is been considered as a very high amount. They find the price too high compared to the condition and maintenance of the museum. People are not willing to spend Rs 20 for seeing the broken sculptures and eroded descriptions.
Needs better treatment
“These statues deserved better treatment and should have been in a better condition”
Atul, visitor from Gujarat
Need guide to tell about sculptures
“Being a hub for students and a popular tourist destination, we should have a guide to attend to the visitors and ensure their safety. We expect our daughter to learn various things but there is no one to guide”
Dinakshi, visitor from Gujarat
Hard to know history
“It is very difficult to understand the historical significance of the artifacts and sculptures on display as there is no proper description”
Nihal, college student
Wastage of Rs 20
“It was not worth spending even Rs 20 given the poor maintenance”
Shruti, college student
