Institutions also need attention.

Byline: Muhammad Zahid Raffat

Number of institutions are established and created at the federal and provincial levels from time to time. Such institutions are given and assigned specified and specialized tasks and responsibilities.

Such institutions so established and created enjoy priorities of the respective federal and provincial governments. But such priorities diminish with the passage of time as initial priorities are reduced and turned into lesser or no priorities. Institutions that start suffering from low or no priorities and due attention are seen withering away and going down the drain. Their decaying state quite obviously causes great disappointment and concern among of those working in such institutions . The federal and provincial governments, as the time passes, forget that such institutions also need due and proper attention for continuing working and delivering according to the assigned tasks and responsibilities. How can any institution continue working and functioning properly and efficiently when there is no priority, no attention and accountability at all.

One such national level institution which is apparently suffering from lack of due priority and attention on the part of the federal government is the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), Islamabad.

PNCA was set up in 1973 to spearhead the development of arts in Pakistan to build a robust arts ecosystem by creating an environment conducive for the flourishing of the arts where the arts are accessible to everyone and the artists as well as the art groups have and enjoy commitment, financial support and resources and to excel at home and on the world stage also.

PNCA as per its assigned task as such is responsible as a one and only national institution of its kind for promotion of culture, art, music, film and theatre .

Following its creation, the PNCA was placed under control of the Ministry of Culture, then after some years to the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, National History and Literary Heritage and now under National History and Literary Heritage Division. Such shifting and change of administratively controlling ministry after every some years only indicated lack of due priority and attention of the federal government.

Incumbent Federal Education Minister, who hails from Lahore, holds additional charge of National History and Literary Heritage Division .According to the information available , he has not visited the National Art Gallery/PNCA once...