Instead of preserving the rich archaeological marvels of the country, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is engaged in abusing them, alleged members of the Indian History Congress (IHC) here when they expressed deep sense of indignation over the Dundiakhera “treasure hunt” fiasco in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh in September.
At a general body meeting after the completion of its 74th session on Monday, the IHC in a resolution called for an inquiry to identify the persons responsible for making the ASI a complicit in the gold hunt enterprise and to determine the amount of taxpayers’ money lost in it.
In search of about 1,000 tonnes of gold buried under the palace of a 19th-century king, the ASI supervised a digging operation reportedly suspected on no better piece of evidence than the dreams of a local seer.
“The long continuation of the digging by the ASI at the palace under the eyes of foreign and Indian media has brought considerable dishonour to the ASI,” the IHC resolution said, adding that incidentally, the excavation was “illegal” for the fact that no proposal for it was brought before the standing committee of the Central Advisory Board of Archaeology, which is an essential prerequisite. The IHC was also equally critical about the interference of bureaucrats in administration of professional institutions undertaking historical and archaeological researches.
In another resolution, the IHC condemned the appointment of civil service officers to head institutions like the ASI, the National Archives, the Indira Gandhi National Council of Arts and the National Museums.
“It has been noticed that the Government of India consistently fails in taking timely steps to fill up the heads of these institutes as and when they fall vacant and instead, civil service officers having no necessary qualifications are appointed to head such institutions,” the resolution said, adding that all the four institutions are now in this unenviable positions without any convincing reason.
“The Dundiakhera fiasco...would not have happened if the ASI had a competent DG to give proper advice to the powers concerned,” the resolution said and strongly recommended to the Government of India to rectify the lapses and return the institutions to the stewardship of professionally-qualified persons.