ISLAMABAD: The architectural design work of the lingering project of National Museum of Pakistan will be completed soon and will become the first 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,” National History and Literary Heritage (NH&LH) Division Federal Secretary Engineer Aamir Hasan said Sunday.
Talking to reporters, Engineer Aamir Hasan informed that the national museum project was lingering since the era of Ayub Khan and could not be implemented during the previous governments due to certain reasons.
He said that the NH&LH had taken strong initiatives to revive this project, adding that they were in contact with the Planning Division to acquire funds for constructing the museum facility in the next financial year.
He also said that the museum would be established on 3.24 acres of land which was already acquired at Shakarparian near Lok Virsa, adding that the foundation stone of the museum would be laid during early next year.
Listing some other initiatives of the division, Aamir Hasan revealed that the division had taken strong steps to revive and promote the art of calligraphy, establishing a separate Calligraphy Wing at the National Language Promotion Department (NLPD) and compiled 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 making contributions in this field, along with inspiring the youth to achieve excellence in this form of art.
Moreover, he said that it was a matter of pride for Pakistan to have six archaeological sites on the 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 further said the division had also arranged a number of events to mark the 70th Independence Day Anniversary of Pakistan, including holding a week-long antiques exhibition, titled `National Heritage of Pakistan’ concluded on Wednesday and book fairs across the country through National Book Foundation’.
Aamir Hasan said that the division had also launched `Intizar Hussain Award’ worth Rs 1 million for the best Urdu writer from the year 2016, along with increasing the number of stipends and awards for literary persons.
