MUMBAI: The 220-year-old Asiatic Society of Mumbai (ASM), operating till now out of the town hall, a grade-1 heritage structure in Fort, is staring at an uncertain future. Functioning on almost half of its former strength of human capital and inadequate funds, staff and members now fear that the society might have to be disbanded soon, prompting them to frantically call a press conference on Thursday to demand drastic changes in the operations.
“The library doesn’t have a librarian or deputy librarian. Nor does it have an accounts officer, administrator or archivist,” said Sunil Bhirud, conservator at ASM and part of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai Employees Union. “We are functioning on a staff strength of 25 against the recommended 45. Three staff are contract workers. Most of us who work here do not receive full salary, with plenty of arrears pending.”
These conditions have put a strain on the workings of the library, and the staff who collectively manage 2,80,000 books and bound periodicals, 2,846 manuscripts, 293 printed pothis, 1,300 maps and 12,000 coins, fear damage to these preserved rare articles of history.
“When members arrive with requests for books, we often tell them to come the next day because we are so burdened with work. No proper technique is followed while cleaning the books, which need to be handled with utmost care as these are very old,” said Sameer Salvi, who works in the book maintenance department. “Each one of us is doing the work of two people.”
The union placed the blame squarely on the managing committee, a 22-member elected body consisting of library members, representatives of the central and state governments, and employees. Funded by a public trust, the state governor is the chief patron of ASM.
In addition to managing the library, the staff members are also compelled to approach the government on their own to request for funds, which they say is not their responsibility but of the elected managing committee.
“In 2022, we met the then governor and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar to ask for funds. The state government promised a ₹1-crore annual recurring grant with another crore to be added by the BMC. However, we received only ₹50 lakh from the civic body,” said Prashant Reddy, president of the ASM union. “ASM received an equal grant from the central government in 2023-24.” However, this is not enough, and the organisation is still cash strapped.
Employees Sameer Salvi and Sunil Bhirud complained that they have not been receiving full salaries from the pandemic onwards, with 9% of their dearness allowance still being cut from their package. The permanent staff is currently being paid in accordance with the 6th pay commission, despite the 7th pay commission coming into effect in 2016.
Blaming the managing committee squarely for the current situation, another employee, Prashant Reddy, said, “The future of the society is dark due to the inefficient managing committee and the incompetent office bearers, who are interested mainly in growing their own networks through event management than doing anything constructive for the institution,” taking potshots at the Mumbai Research Centre set up by them.
He also raised the the demand for granting the ASM the status of “an institute of national importance” by the central government, that would grant them a corpus grant of ₹50 crore. “This was raised in the early 2000s, but the managing committee still has not managed to get it done.” If this issue is not raised in the annual general meeting (AGM) scheduled for September 28, the union has threatened to intensify their protest.
Employees are also worried by a comment made by the managing committee president, Vispi Balaporia, at a book launch in August , when she said that the ASM would have to be disbanded in future if it did not receive enough grants. “It is the managing committee’s responsibility, as patrons of the institute, to seek out government officials and other individuals to keep it thriving. But instead, they are singing its doom,” Bhirud said.
HT reached out to Vispi Balaporia for her comments but did not get any response.