Nehru Tribal Museum Lies In Neglect For Years In Hyd

At a time when Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao is showering promises for the welfare of the tribals, the only museum in the state which showcases their culture and lifestyle, the Nehru Centenary Tribal Museum, is yet to fall in the eyes of the state and the central governments despite being located in the heart of the city.

The Tribal Museum at Masab Tank, which is the biggest in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, has been being operated with shocking ‘zero’ budget for the past two years and is now suffering severe financial crisis.

The financial status of the museum is so pathetic that its curator had to spend around `12,500 from his pocket to make arrangements for the visit of the secretary of Union ministry of tribal affairs. “The only relief to us is that we are being paid our salaries regularly,” said a member of the staff at the museum.

But the woes of the museum are not financial alone. Though it appears in the ‘must visit’ list of many of the tourists who come to Hyderabad, it has no manpower to retain its lost glory any longer. It may be hard to believe but a single officer is performing all the duties ranging from clerical work to signing the salary cheques.

The curator of the museum, D Satyanarayana, is the only regular employee and now he has  got additional charge of six more posts. More than 70 posts, including the 11 posts of assistant to curator, are still lying vacant with no recruitment in the past three years.

However, the current crisis is not a new thing to the officials. “In fact, the museum has never had enough funds, but the current situation is worse than ever,” said Satyanarayana. Till 2012 the routine expenses of museum have been covered with the unutilised money from the central government’s funds which were sanctioned for constructing the museum building. But neither the state nor the central government released any funds afterwards, he added.

The museum boasts of the art works which showcases the culture of different tribes from both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. It provides the visitors a rare opportunity to have an insight to the life of tribes like Chenchu, Kondareddy, Gondu and Gutti Koyas.