By Kartik Lokhande
Vacancies
at various levels has crippled the functioning of Directorate of
Archaeology, Maharashtra, that has under it six offices at major centres
in State to look after numerous protected monuments. Facing the
problem, the Directorate has proposed to the State Government to fill up
the vacancies and also increase budget for proper conservation and
repairs of monuments.
Under the Directorate of Archaeology, there are six major offices namely
at Nagpur, Aurangabad, Pune, Nashik, Ratnagiri, and Nanded apart from
Mumbai headquarters. Of these six offices, three do not have full-time
Joint Director. Shrikant Gharpure is Joint Director at Nashik, B V
Kulkarni at Ratnagiri, and V Kamble at Pune. As three other posts are
vacant, Kamble has got additional charge of Aurangabad; Anand Bhoyar,
who was Technical Assistant at Amravati, had got additional charge of
Nanded; M Y Kathane, who is Curator of Nagur Central Museum, holds
additional charge of Nagpur office. Bhoyar retired two months ago, and
since then additional charge of Nanded is with Vilas Wahane working in
Pune office.
There are vacancies at other levels also. As far as Vidarbha region is
concerned, it has as many as 80 monuments under the department. Nagpur
branch of Directorate of Archaeology looks after entire Vidarbha, and
takes care of conservation and repairs of monuments. Presently, the
branch has only three employees and the post of Junior Engineer is
vacant. As a result, Conservation Assistant is holding additional charge
as Junior Engineer. Similarly, Amravati office has two posts of
Technical Assistant and a peon. It looks after eight to 10 monuments in
Amravati Division covering five districts.
Nagpur office had 30-35 monuments under its jurisdiction previously and
then it had almost equal number of watchmen in permanent service.
Gradually, most of these watchmen retired from service. At present,
there are only five watchmen -- one each at Saoner, Ramtek, Nagardhan,
Gondia, and Sindkhedraja. The watchman at Nagardhan is appointed on
daily wages.
Sanjay Patil, Director (Archaeology), told ‘The Hitavada’ that the
Directorate of Archaeology had requested the Government to fill up the
vacant posts and had already floated an advertisement. “The written
examination and interviews are scheduled in August. Thought is also
being given to appoint watchmen. However, as far as higher posts are
concerned, it is for the Government to respond,” he said. Asked about
the budgetary requirements of the Directorate, Patil said that he had
moved a request to the Government to raise the budget for better
conservation and repairs of monuments.
The department has also submitted a revised staffing pattern to the
Government. Under this, 34 posts have got approval. Soon, 22 posts will
be filled up and written examination for the purpose is scheduled on
August 3, and interviews on August 10. A proposal to appoint 70 watchmen
on daily wages also has been prepared.
The Department of Archaeology has issued advertisement for recruitment
in Group C and D for the posts of Assistant Superintendent, Cameraman,
Caretaker, Clerk-cum-Typist, Driver, Mali, Museum Assistant, Peon, Sub
Overseer, Taxidermist, Technical Assistant (Exploration), and Technical
Assistant in Department of Archaeology in Mumbai. A total of 22 posts
are to be filled up through the exercise. How far will this exercise
help in conservation remains a question as maximum nine posts are of
peons, who cannot be expected to be experts in conservation.
(Published in The Hitavada CityLine on July 21, 2014)
Comments
Post a Comment