Need to change perception of museums: Katoch

The government today emphasised on the need to change the perception of museums from a place to preserve artifacts to centres of knowledge and research.
Inaugurating volunteer guide programme 'Path Pradarshak' at the National Museum here, Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch also asked museum authorities to be ready to engage in collaborative programmes with other museums to increase their expertise and develop a pool of highly trained manpower.
She asked the museum officials to reopen some of the galleries which were closed for renovation.
"There should be a clear plan of action to renovate and reopen all closed galleries," Katoch said.

Thanjavur paintings gallery and Decorative Arts gallery will be reopen soon.
'Path Pradarshak' is a 90-minute general introductory tour to be provided free of cost to visitors. It is for the first time that a programme of this kind has been introduced in a museum in India. It will help visitors to appreciate the treasures of the museum and to stimulate interest in them.
The tour, which will start from tomorrow, will introduce visitors to the highlights of the National Museum through a brief description of the galleries and 30 objects on display.
On week days (except Mondays), there would be two tours - from 10:30 AM to 12 noon and from 2:30-4:00 PM. On Saturdays and Sundays, there will be 4 tours (10:30 AM-12 PM, 11:30 AM- 1:00 PM, 2:30-4:00 PM and 3:30-5:00 PM).