International Day of Museums 2021! DRM, South Western Railway, calls for CSR funds to keep attractions on track

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5 years ago News Desk

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives on creating more of interactive facilities in the Rail Museum to make it truly world class.

Mysuru: The devastating second wave of Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdowns have compelled South Western Railways, Mysuru Division to close both its Mysuru Rail Museum in the city and Malgudi Museum at Arasalu in Shivamogga district for visitors.

Maharanis Saloon a compartment used by queens of princely Mysore state, on display at Mysuru Rail Museum.

Consequently, plans for addition of artefacts and features have been rendered difficult. The focus is now on sustaining the operations meaningfully notwithstanding the fact that the resources are limited with an eye towards the future consistent with this year’s theme “The Future of Museums: Recover and Reimagine.”

Rahul Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, Mysuru Division, has called upon the nodal department managing the affairs of the museums to devise innovative schemes to augment the revenue in a big way.

He has also sought the cooperation of the Corporate Houses to contribute funds under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives on creating more of interactive facilities in the Rail Museum to make it truly world class.

Agarwal further said that Mysuru Rail Museum had played a pivotal role in preserving many of the remnants of the historical journey of the Railways in this region for over 140 years.

“While we are all in isolation and confined to our homes, the Railways continue to contributing significantly in mitigating the sufferings of the people even during this standstill,” Agarwal added.

He has asked individuals to record their experiences in a diary or videos, which can later become a part of the narrative of the museum with voices being mainly from economically marginalised groups like migrant labourers to ordinary citizens as to how they have responded to the crisis.

Agarwal said that people can take the virtual route to Mysuru Rail Museum to understand the evolution of the Railways founded by the rulers of the erstwhile Princely State of Mysore as it takes a while for people to come back to our brick and mortar buildings. We are rethinking our long and short term strategies in the changed scenario, the DRM added, according to Manjunath Kanmadi
Sr. Divisional Commercial Manager.

– Team Mysoorunews