Public libraries cry for funds

The tug of war between Hyderabad Grandhalaya Samstha and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is proving to be costly as libraries are gathering dust and the employees’ morale, hitting an all time low. The non-payment of library cess (8 per cent) collected by the civic body to the Hyderabad Grandhalaya Samstha is delaying maintenance works, say officials.

Facilities at the libraries have been falling sharply. Murali, a resident of Chudi Bazaar said, “These libraries are dying a slow death.

There is no addition of new books, periodicals and journals. A good reader would finish off the collection in a month or two.” Out of the total 90 libraries, three have been shut down as the buildings collapsed and another three mobile libraries are no longer in use.

Sama Krishna Reddy, chairman, Hyderabad Grandhalaya Samstha, said, “We have to receive a pending amount of Rs 42 crore from the GHMC. Since February, the amount that used to be remitted into our account from e-seva too was stopped. We have funds to pay salaries for just three months. How does one expect us to take up developmental works? The money is spent for salaries and basic maintenance.”

At loggerheads
Last year the GHMC wanted to take over all the libraries but the Samstha has been opposing the move. The GHMC claims that proper maintenance work has not been done and has asked the Samstha to establish Book Deposit Centres. (BDC).

Refuting charges that the Samstha has not taken up developmental activities, Krishna Reddy added, “We were advised to start BDC in government primary schools with a condition that the strength of the school should be 200. We have identified 200 schools out of 694 schools. The process has started and 26 centres have been established.”

K Ashok Reddy, additional commissioner, finance, GHMC, said that there has been no headway regarding the takeover of libraries that were under Grandhalaya Samstha. The second level talks are yet to take place.”
A senior official at the GHMC said that the Samstha has failed in its duty to maintain and develop libraries.
Even as both entities slug it out, the common man who pays tax, remains the sufferer. Suresh, a resident of Vidyanagar and a Civil Services aspirant says, “Citizens pay 8 per cent towards library cess and it is our right to get good facilities.”

Libraries fall by the wayside
• The three mobile libraries have been abandoned and are rusted. They have not been in use since 2004.
• Three libraries in A C Guards, Chanchalguda and Muradnagar are closed down as the buildings collapsed.
• Several libraries are housed in old buildings with leaking roofs and unsafe walls. New books are not added to the collection.

Book Deposit Centres
The government has come up with the idea of setting up Book Deposit Centres as it is finding it difficult to construct new libraries in the city. Welfare associations can contact the Samstha to set up libraries but would have to provide space for the library.

The Book Deposit Centres (BDC) are opened in colonies. A person in charge is paid Rs 1,000 per month for the upkeep and another Rs 500 is given for newspapers and periodicals. As there is a ban on recruitment 38 employees are outsourced and the strength of the Samstha is 254.

Books, novels and periodicals are supplied to the BDCs on a regular basis and they do the rounds from one library to another.