Nehru Children’s Museum director to meet chief minister’s adviser Subrata Gupta to avert shutdown
Times of India | 5 August 2026
Kolkata: Nehru Children’s Museum director Sudip Srimal is set to meet the chief minister’s chief adviser, Subrata Gupta, at the state secretariat to find a way to prevent the closure of the five-decade-old institution.
An official from the chief minister’s office called Srimal on Tuesday and requested him to attend the meeting with Gupta. The development came a day after Srimal received a call from the CMO, during which he explained the museum’s inability to finance a fire safety upgrade. The proposed meeting with Gupta is being viewed as a positive step towards preventing the museum’s closure.
Srimal on July 16 wrote to municipal affairs minister Agnimitra Paul about the fire safety notice, pointing out that the organisation was not in a position to spend Rs 50 lakh on the upgrade. He also wrote to chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, finance minister Swapan Dasgupta and urban development minister and BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya, seeking their intervention. The management had said the museum would close from Aug 16 if no help came through.
Srimal said several NGOs had approached him with proposals for the museum but he had turned them down as he wanted to preserve its non-commercial character and ensure it continued to function as a cultural space. In an attempt to persuade the govt to take over the museum, Srimal proposed to dedicate a floor to Uttam Kumar, another to actor Anupam Kher to establish a training academy and a third to highlight the contributions of Syama Prasad Mookerjee. “I have urged the govt to take over the museum as I am not in a position to run it. This would help the state save a lot of money and ensure continuity of the museum as a cultural space,” Srimal said.
The secretary of Sishu Kishore Academy, under the direction of I&CA secretary Saumitra Mohan, has also been in regular touch with Srimal, who has submitted the museum’s balance sheets of the past three years, as requested by the I&CA department.
The museum, which houses miniature clay models, depicting stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, around 1,100 dolls from 96 countries, and a Ganesh gallery with nearly 300 idols, has been facing uncertainty since the closure order. Srimal said he had requested the authorities to retain the clay models and the international doll collection, if possible.