New Delhi, Feb. 27: Two Union ministries are locked in a battle for control of Rabindranath Tagore’s legacy after the unexplained disappearance of hundreds of precious art objects from a museum and another facility at Visva-Bharati University.

The culture ministry has demanded that Rabindra Bhavan, the largest repository of Tagore’s works, be yanked away from the human resource development ministry, officials said.

Culture minister Ambika Soni has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to transfer control of the university museum to her ministry. The culture ministry is better equipped to preserve and guard the artefacts, sources quoted Soni as telling Singh.

The demand comes after a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report revealed that over 900 art objects, including several Tagore paintings, had been reported missing from the university’s facilities because of poor security. (See chart)

At a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday though, the human resource development ministry is learnt to have said that the transfer would be difficult as the museum is an integral part of the university.

Rabindra Bhavan, also known as the Institute for Tagore Studies and Research, was an academic institute, human resource development officials told the meeting, which ended inconclusively, the sources said.

“Visva-Bharati is a central university, and all its institutes and schools come under us. How can we selectively hand over control of one institute?” wondered an official.

The first rumblings of discontent with the security at Rabindra Bhavan began in 2004 when Tagore’s Nobel Prize was stolen from the museum. A CBI probe was launched but has been wound up unsuccessfully. Now a replica of the original medallion adorns the museum.

In 2006, the human resource development ministry set up a seven-member committee, headed by Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, to prepare a roadmap for the development of Visva-Bharati.

The committee recommended greater security for Rabindra Bhavan and Kala Bhavan — the fine arts department — at Visva-Bharati. “A biometric system of infra-red ray be installed... to detect unauthorised entry,” it said.

But a year later, the CAG found the university had done little to improve preservation or security of the murals, sculptures, paintings and other works.

In its latest report, the CAG found that 175 artefacts at Rabindra Bhavan were damaged “due to improper preservation”.

Its building, a declared heritage structure, was in a “dilapidated condition” and needed “immediate attention”, it noted.

Thirty paintings by Tagore and Nandalal Bose, and 886 other art items were missing, the report said. No investigation was launched to try and find the missing articles, the CAG said.

Many “outdoor sculptures and murals created by famed artists did not find place in any departmental register” and neither Rabindra Bhavan nor Kala Bhavan was willing to take responsibility for their maintenance and security, it complained.

“Neither of the two… is equipped with modern electronic security gadgets like intruder alarms, CCTVs or metal detectors,” the CAG report said.

A senior Visva-Bharati official, speaking on condition of anonymity, accused the human resource development ministry of “apathy” towards the university.

“We have received step-motherly treatment. Fine arts have been neglected in terms of funding, and it is but natural that Rabindra Bhavan will suffer, too,” he said.

However, the official added that he was not too optimistic of a turnaround if the culture ministry took over.