Govt. continues to starve heritage institute of cash

PUNE: The 86-year-old Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) continues to struggle for a routine government grant of Rs 26.38 lakh towards dearness allowance, which has piled up since 1997.
The government has also failed to disburse an approved grant of Rs 1.45 lakh towards the maintenance of manuscripts, publications and the all-important Mahabharata research project.Interestingly, the amount was sanctioned only after The Times of India highlighted the issue in July 2002.
The actual payment has, however, been withheld for want of funds, institute office superintendent Shrikrishna Rajarshi told TNN. Meanwhile, the state government has been accused of failure to discharge its financial duties towards the institute under Section 21 of the Public Charitable Trust Act.
“State higher education director S.M. Pathan has, however, recently made a verbal promise to disburse Rs 80,000. We hope to receive the amount this week,� Rajarshi said. The institute had originally sought Rs 20 lakh for the maintenance of 28,000 invaluable manuscripts in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Marathi.
Many of the manuscripts are hundreds of years old and are much sought after by international oriental researchers. The state government has earmarked a mere Rs 10 crore for infrastructural development in higher education, Pathan revealed, “Research institutes may have to generate developmental funds in the future,� he warned.
Institute honorary secretary Dr Saroja Bhate, who was the first to raise a voice against irregular grants from the government, said steps were being taken to make the institute self-sufficient.
“The issue will be raised at the International Indology Committee soon. We plan to appeal to nearly 500 past students, now spread across the world, for donations. We also require funding for library automation and computerisation of the manuscript index,� she told TNN.