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An array of rare books, manuscripts and letters related to renowned Indian personalities such as Rabindranath Tagore, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sarat Chandra Chatterjee and Sarojini Naidu, it is feared, has been stolen from the National Library of Kolkata.
What is worse still is that that the register containing the records of the Rare Books Division in Kolkata’s National Library is also not to be found. This means there is no way one can know for sure exactly what has gone missing.
The Rare Books Division in the library houses early works of Tagore, letters penned by Netaji, manuscripts of Sarat Chandra and Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhaya. Apart from these, the division houses rare books from the 18th century and earlier.
As per reports, around 40 per cent of the books which the members of this noted library have requested are not to be found. The ‘theft’ surfaced after a routine check of the Kolkata’s National Library was conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
Thereafter, an inquiry was launched into the search of the missing books, letters and manuscripts. Sources informed that the premier auditing agency has formed a team of 11 members to find out the missing national treasures and look into the irregularities.
Furthermore the Comptroller and Auditor General has asked the culture ministry to take instant action against the Director of the Kolkata’s National Library who failed to provide details of the resources available at the centre. CAG has also mentioned to the culture ministry that the entire library is in mess and that no inventory was found for most of its divisions.
