National Library authorities are sitting idle while a reportedly unauthorised employees’ union held a picnic inside the sprawling library complex today, in violation of rules, just a couple of days before the visit of the secretary in the union ministry of culture, Mr. Raghavendra Singh, to the prestigious central government institute.
Dr Arun Chakraborty, director general of the National Library at Alipore campus, said today that all unions inside the library premises are ‘unauthorised and unregistered’ and they organise get-togethers every year.
According to the Union ministry of culture rules under which the National Library operates, no picnics are allowed inside the library complex so as not to disturb the readers.
But a visit to the library this afternoon found the National Library Kormi Association (NLKA), reportedly a BJP-affiliated union that runs its office in the CPWD engineer’s room, organising a big picnic while blaring music from a sound box installed at the spot was audible even outside the library.
After being disturbed by the noise several readers of the library have informed the matter to the security personnel of the library, a senior security officer said, requesting anonymity.
The NLKA office was decorated with colourful union flags and banners while trendy Hindi movie songs blared on sound boxes throughout the day.
Some employees who are also members of the NLKA got angry with this correspondent and a photographer of a Bengali daily saying, “We are organising a picnic here. And why are you so interested?”
When asked what action is going to be taken Dr Chakraborty told The Statesman, “It’s a get-together and not a picnic. All unions organise this sort of programmes every year. Some time before an union had organised a similar programme where 500 people participated. I have no idea whether the organiser has used the sound box today.”
“All the unions inside the library complex are unauthorised and unregistered and this is going on for years,” Dr Chakraborty admitted.
But he had nothing to say when asked how he was going to stop this disturbance to the readers just a day before the visit of Mr Singh.
“Our union is registered and authorised and there is no doubt about it.
“ How did the authority allow the union to organise such a picnic using sound box inside the library complex ignoring the union ministry of culture’s rules,” said Saibal Chakraborty, secretary of the National Library Staff Association.