"British Council will give the books, the Government can keep the premises (constructed in 1928) that it ultimately owns and to have a professional body in place, members can keep something that they cherished......" - But Why Books and Furniture alone ? Why not the IT infrastructure and the members who want to continue ? What's use of a an Automobile without the engine and the passengers ? Why is the present library management insisting on keeping the new set up out of the present premises that was refurbished recently with huge investments? Is this the best practice to help the government to manage a transition ?
The Library Management (officers of ICCR) and those in their regional office in Trivandrum are canceling memberships and are creating a disastrous situation to leave the Government and vast majority of members to live with the consequences of their narrow, over-ambitions and short-term goals. They must show an acceptable degree of reasoning and transparency in sale of assets including those recently acquired. They must be made accountable. Why does the present library management insist on destroying an establishment just before handing it over to the sovereign Government? In Mergers, Acquisitions or Takeovers, entities are not dismantled for the sake of it. Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) which is supported with public funds should also take a call on this in response to the CM's letter..
Links with BC's educational / e-learning networks using the IT and other infrastructure currently available will be mutually beneficial. Why should Trivandrum be left to re-invent these legacy systems, links with the Association of British Scholars, so on and so forth ? Firewalls to restricted BC resources and paid services will be easily possible. We were not asking for investments from the BC. The request was always for preserving the institution in its entirety. British Council would be generous to also donate the existing IT enabled Library Management Systems and show a more gracious approach in strengthening co-operation with the Government and People of Kerala . That's what an international charitable organisation usually does. The BC would certainly not take it back to the UK.
1 comment:
It's atrocious, to say the least. We in India have always had this penchant for being more loyal than the king, and the present BL management proves it. For God's sake, dear folks, think like an Indian, a Keralite and a Trivandrumite who is getting back their library thanks NOT to their effort; Trivandrum people have been able to hold back the books and the furniture thanks to the voluminous efforts of the media and the government and a handful of selfless volunteer campaigners who have seen the loss as catastrophic right from the beginning. I hope the present BL management does not continue with the 'dog in the manger' attitude for long and condescend to see the welfare of their town first. The arguments against retaining the premises that is in the grapevine makes the public smell a rat...
Post a Comment