ICCR was asked to provide the following details, with copies of relevant documents.
- The nature of entity, organisation, governing and management structure of the British Library , Tvpm (with detail of any changes between 1964 -2007)
- The role of ICCR in the library
- The British Council's policy on libraries, being a collaborator of ICCR
- Details of the 1971 agreement between ICCR/Govt of India and the British Council for managing the British Libraries.
- The ICCR website states that the BL, Tvpm comes under it. That being so, the reasons for closure of the library being decided by the British Council rather than the ICCR
- It is reported that the closure of the library is due to a shift in policy of the British Council. But, the 'British Council Libraries' , which come directly under the British Council, are still functioning while two 'British Libraries', which come under the ICCR (a Govt of India body) are being closed down. Why is this?
- The difference between 'British Council Libraries' and 'British Libraries' in India.
- The reasons for selecting BL Tvpm and BL Bhopal for closure.
- Details of any correspondence between the British Council and ICCR related to the closure (proposal from BC and response of ICCR)
- Details of Income, expenditure and revenue streams for the past 3 years and 2007 -2009
- The details of ownership of assets
- The process for staff recruitment and who appoints staff.
- The salary of each employee (CTC) , and the compensation package offered on voluntary retirement.
- The process followed in implementing staff attrition
- Will the ICCR and Library Management go ahead with the steps for closure making the information requested above irrelevant, when it is received in 30 days.
From the start, a lack of transparency and undue haste was felt in the closure of the library.
It is hoped that the answers to the questions above, will provide us with an insight into how the closure can be avoided...
2 comments:
K - Excellent. This was indeed the first step that we should have taken instead of predetermining that we want to start some new library and assuming it can perform to the levels of BC libraries in India. Let us keep the activities on other fronts to prevent a closure going ahead in tandem to this request for information.
Well done! Keep posting the developments and keep the transparency in tact...
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