KOCHI: Even as the Kerala Government is on a spree constructing museums across the state, a museum built by spending more than Rs 1 crore now remains unused. The reason being lack of staff to run the show.The Science and Technology Museum at SRV High School was inaugurated in 2008 by former President A P J Abdul Kalam. The funding of Rs 1.11 crore was contributed from the Member Parliament Local Area Development Funds (MPLADS) during the term of the then MP and former director of ISRO satellite centre K Kasturi Rangan. The museum also received handsome donations from ISRO and Krishna Hospital. In the space museum, the ISRO has built replicas of its satellites and launch vehicles. The exhibits showcase Polar satellites, Geosynchronous satellites and related technologies and applications like remote sensing.The medical gallery of the museum houses a replica of an operation theatre with models of doctors and equipped with all the paraphernalia of the operation theatre. This is apart from several biological specimens of babies at various stages of pregnancy, exhibits of various internal organs, diseased organs and parasites. “The museum was meant for students from different schools across the city. But now it remains closed due to lack of permanent staff. Many of our own students have not seen the museum,” said Gracy Thomas, principal, SRV High School.The museum is now opened for public viewing occasionally by secretary of the school Old Students Association P K Venugopal. “If I’m there, I open the museum for the students. But it is not possible to devote all my time for it. Besides, there are no proper mechanism for display and instruction, and the number of students who visit the museum is very few,” Venugopal said.“To run the museum professionally we need a guide, a caretaker and a manager. Now there is no one to explain about the exhibits. The maintenance of these artifacts and security are other concerns. The building that houses the museum is shared by senior secondary students of the school. The students must be shifted elsewhere so that the building can be used exclusively for the museum. The museum can then be opened to the public without disturbing the classes,” said Higher Secondary School teacher V G Unnikrishnan.Lack of staff is not a new issue. The school authorities and others have been trying to address the issue since 2008 but to no avail. “The Corporation has even sanctioned funds but they don’t have the power to appoint a school staff. If the state government takes an initiative, the problem can be resolved soon,” Sajeevan, president of Parent Teacher Association, said.
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