A librarian in Kerala’s panchayats seems to be anything but one. And even institutions which have won accolades are struggling to escape the situation which many refer to as patently absurd. Elappully is the panchayat which bagged the top prize at the ‘Green Kerala Express-2010,’ a reality TV show for the best performing local body in the state.
Last month, the panchayat librarian of Elappully in Palakkad was suspended for three months, on charges of misusing the insurance and PF payments of the staff to be deposited in the state treasury.
A few months ago, a panchayat librarian was manhandled in Thiruvananthapuram district by a group of contractors who accused him of delaying their bills.
The librarian suspended for alleged misappropriation of funds was asked to do clerical duty instead of manning the library, says C Padmavathy, president of Elappully Panchayat. The result: nearly 7000 books and documents have gone missing. “Now we have around 400 books, many were lost as we shifted to a new building,” she said.
Most of the librarians working in panchayats are forced to do clerical jobs. Some sit in the front offices, while others are huddled behind files to issue sand mining passes. Some of them have been technically re-assigned as sweepers.
“This is because part-time librarians are considered ‘part-time contingency workers,’ and get promoted as full-time contingency workers/sweepers, thanks to the anomalies in service regulations,” said a panchayat librarian from Kannur.
Recently, the Deputy Director of Local Fund Audits in Kozhikode said eight Panchayat libraries in the district are dead assets as librarians were assigned other duties.
Most of the librarians working in panchayats are forced to do clerical jobs.
The Deputy Director of Local Fund Audits in Kozhikode said eight Panchayat libraries in the district are dead assets as librarians were assigned other duties.
This is happening at a time when the Centre is planning to link village libraries to a common network, turning them into ‘knowledge centres,’ as recommended by the Knowledge Commission headed by Sam Pitroda.
The National Mission for Libraries (NML) has set aside Rs 1,000 crore “to digitally link 9,000 libraries across the country under the NML.”
“Even after many representations, the state government remains indifferent to this project. It does not have even a single proposal to utilise the fund,” alleged a representative of the Panchayat Librarians Association.
S Lalithambika, Director of Panchayats, said she was not aware of any such proposal being floated so far, but assured that she would look in to it.
Blaming the Library Council for the sorry state of affairs at the panchayat libraries, general secretary of Panchayat Presidents’ Association, Soopy Narikkattery, said “the council do not even provide daily newspapers to libraries, even though panchayats contribute several lakhs of rupees to the Library Fund.”
He admitted there are instances where librarians are assigned other duties. “It works otherwise as well. In some places full time panchayat employees take care of the libraries.”
However, he is not in favour of appointing permanent librarians, saying that it will “be a financial burden.”
Library Council officials point out that most of the panchayats don’t even bother to get affiliation and hence they don’t get the deserving aid.
“The panchayats, despite many representations and numerous reminders from the government of Kerala, hold back the library cess. Panchayats often divert the fund for other purposes. The cess dues are really huge,” Council president P K Hari Kumar said.
Source :Indian Express 7 June 2013.
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