As soon as one enters into the luxurious building of the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), a welcoming female voice echoes in the air, saying, “Welcome to the Pakistan National Council of the Arts. PNCA is the jewel in the crown of Federal capital. This deluxe building is your second home, hence it is your responsibility to take care of its interior and avoid taking eatables inside and also abstain eating chewing gum.”
Contrary to this piece of advice, when one crosses the walkthrough gate of the National Art Gallery (NAG), just behind the auditorium of PNCA, there are two separate washrooms – one each for ladies and gents – with the instruction inscribed on both doors, “Washrooms are temporarily closed for repairing. Please use cafeteria washrooms”.
“These washrooms are not functional for some days or weeks. They are useable for almost a year now. I wonder, why the administration of PNCA is not paying attention for swift repair work, as a number of visitors on a daily basis register their complaints over the issue,” an official of PNCA told Pakistan Today.
Quoting an old saying “The discipline and cleanliness of a house is adjudged by two things, kitchen and toilet, the official maintained that interestingly, Major (r) Owais was the person concerned, responsible for the maintenance of the whole building. “It is often debated army officials whether retired or in-service takes much responsibility contrary to a civilian person,” the official added.
According to the official, it is a responsibility of the Administration Section, which has assigned the task to Owais, who is currently working as security and maintenance in-charge.
“He is already a retired person and the PNCA high-ups in a sheer violation of Supreme Court ruling on not giving extension to any government employee, revive his contract after every six months,” the official alleged, adding that Owais was also working as deputy director (DD) project development coordinator (PDC).
He also said that Owais’ tenure for the DD PDC had expired on December 31, 2011, but, hopefully, he would manage to get further extension as a summary for his rehiring had already been moved.
When asked, why these washrooms are not repaired within few days, the official said it was not just because of the lethargic attitude not of Owais, as the management of PNCA was also responsible for it, which added to the miseries of visitors. When this scribe visited the washrooms near cafeteria, the urinal and toilet angled towards Ka’aba Sharif. “It is unfortunate to observe such mistakes in the construction of washrooms. Almost every employee offers the prayers during the office hours, but no one has raised his voice over the matter,” the official said regretfully.
Apart from the washrooms, this scribe observed that a giant billboard of ‘National Drama Festival-2011’, which concluded on December 28, 2011, was still hanged on the outer wall of PNCA building and not removed, while the filthy car parking area around the building was also causing innumerable problems to the visiting art lovers. It does not stop there, as two escalators inside the PNCA building are also not functioning. The interior walls are also losing its whitewash from various galleries and offices in the council, while the working of fire extinguishers equipment, hanging on the walls of PNCA, is also questionable.
The capital has some marvellous masterpieces of architect – like Faisal Mosque and President’s House – which exude the feelings of utmost refinement and elegance. To further grace the already enthralling serenity, the city is adored with the majestic eye-popping grandeur of the PNCA building, but it is fast losing its attraction because of the lethargic attitude of PNCA’s department concerned. The National Art Gallery (NAG) of PNCA is stowed with every modern facility at its disposal as it has a state-of-the-art auditorium, an open air theatre, 14 exhibition halls, administrative and teaching areas and cafeteria. In March, 2007 by recognising the status of arts in society, the NAG was completed on 140,000 square feet of area in a record time of 19 months from a bare structure while it was inaugurated in August, 2007 to promote the bond of friendship between the people of Pakistan and the world at large using the art and culture as a tool. When Major (r) Owais was contacted for his version, he refused to receive the call.
