ISLAMABAD: Work on the architectural design of National Museum of Pakistan would be completed soon, after which the country will have a state-of-the-art museum facility at the federal capital to preserve thousands of antiques.
“The consultant hired through Public Works Department (PWD) is working on the design of the museum after which the funds required for this project will be acquired from the Planning Division,” Federal Secretary of National History and Literary Heritage (NH&LH) Division Engineer Aamir Hasan said Thursday.
Talking to media persons, he informed that the project of national museum was lingering since the era of Ayub Khan, and could not be implemented during the previous governments due to certain reasons.
He said the NH&LH Division since its creation had taken strong initiatives to revive this project, adding that he was in close contact with the Planning Division to acquire funds for constructing the museum facility in the next financial year.
He said the museum would be established at 3.24 acres of land, which was already acquired at Shakarparian near Lok Virsa, while the foundation stone of the museum would be laid early next year.
Listing some other initiatives, the federal secretary revealed that the division had taken strong steps to revive and promote the art of calligraphy, establishing a separate Calligraphy Wing at National Language Promotion Department (NLPD) and compiling a directory of calligraphers which would be launched soon.
He said the division had also arranged national and international exhibitions of calligraphy to encourage the artists who had contributed in this field and stressed upon the youth to achieve excellence in this particular art form.
He also said that it was a matter of pride for Pakistan to have six archaeological sites on tentative list of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), out of which eight sites were registered during the last year with the efforts of the division.
He said the division had also arranged a number of events to mark 70th Independence Day anniversary of Pakistan, including a week-long exhibition of antiques, titled ‘National Heritage of Pakistan’.
He said the division had also launched ‘Intizar Hussain Award’ worth Rs 1 million for the best Urdu writer from the year 2016, while also increasing the amount of several stipends and awards for literary persons.