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Showing posts from February, 2011

FUTURE OF MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES IN PAKISTAN IS A QUESTION

In a recent meeting, the Ministry of Culture recommended that libraries and museums, which were part of the federal list, be handed over to the provinces in violation of the constitution. Under the 18th Amendment, more than 350 sites and monuments were to be transferred to the provinces out of the 403 that are protected under the Antiquity Act 1975. All 403 were earlier controlled and maintained by the federal Department of Archaeology and Museums (DOAM) and the Ministry of Culture. However, even after the passage of the constitutional amendment, the Federation was to keep and maintain around seven libraries and 13 museums besides other institutions in the country controlled or financed by the federation. And the federal government was also to control all the seven world heritage sites. However, the Ministry of Culture has put paid to this plan. According to some officials in the ministry, if this proposal is accepted, the Federation would lose some of the most import