The Union Minister of Culture Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch has said that in the age of internet, cinema and television, museums must keep pace with these exciting forms of communication, learning and entertainment. Inaugurating Leadership Training Programme – II for Indian museum professionals in the presence of Dr. Neil MacGregor, Director British Museum, London and Smt. Sangita Gairola, Secretary Culture here today, the Minister said, museums are no longer just meant for scholars and academia, they are for everyone and they must cater to different target groups – children, youth, senior citizens, families and foreign tourists. She said, they must become centres of learning and entertainment for the entire community and must also be equipped to welcome people with different abilities and interest.

Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch said, museums around the world are transforming themselves to meet the new challenges and her ministry has also taken up new initiatives to train museum professionals so that they can meet the challenges of tomorrow.

Referring to her recent visit to the British Museum, the Minister said that a museum should function as a pool of experts where each professional has a specific role to play in making the museum an exciting experience. Smt. Katoch said that she is looking forward to a time when there will be specializations in museums in the country in different fields such as curation, education, design and display, research and outreach. She said, this can only be enabled if the staff is strengthened in museums both in numbers and in their skills.

Thanking the British Museum and the National Culture Fund for developing the syllabus for the Leadership Training Programme, the Minister expressed the hope that the trainers would become mentors for other professionals in their museums and outside so that the lessons and the techniques learnt are disseminated far and wide.

The Leadership Training programme (LTP) - II which has specially been created for the Indian museum professionals by the British Museum comprises of 3 modules of 2 weeks each spread over a period of 5 months. The first module is being held in New Delhi and the second and the third modules would be held in London and Allahabad respectively. In between the Taught Modules, participants will be given Museums assignments to complete in their own museums. The syllabus for the LTP has been carefully worked out keeping in mind the Indian scenario. The programme is being attended by 20 museum professionals from the Museums / Institutions under the Ministry of Culture. The National Culture Fund of the Ministry of Culture is the nodal agency for this programme.

The Leadership Training Programme aims at developing leadership and executing skills for museum personnel. It will provide the skills and confidence necessary for museum professionals to:

·        Institute best practices to improve management systems in museums in India

·        Manage museums and heritage sites efficiently and sustainably

·        Cater for National and International audiences of today

·        Use state of art technologies to make museums interactive and interesting

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