The Centre is considering granting of functional autonomy to national-level institutions. Announcing this in Kolkata on Saturday Dr. Manmohan Singh said that the government also favours liberalised rules for recruiting executive heads of such bodies. The flexibility will help in running of these institutions effectively.<br/><br/>He was speaking at the tele-inauguration of the new campus of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute for Asian Studiesand also laid the foundation stone of the second phase of the Science City there. While funds will not be a constraint in preserving the nation's cultural heritage, Dr. Singh the priority of the Culture Ministry would be to ensure professionalism in the management of the country's vast cultural resources and institutions. <br/><br/>Bureaucratisation tends to negate cultural expression and preservation. Therefore, the government is going to appoint outstanding professionals to head National institutions like Archaeological Survey of India. It is time for winds of change to blow through our institutions, museums, libraries and academies, he said.<br/><br/>On four premier cultural institutions in Kolkata — The Asiatic Society, Indian Museum, Victoria Memorial and National Library – the Prime Minister said the ministry of Culture had made a special allocation of about 90 crore rupees in the current financial year for their modernisation. The Centre had also given substantial additional funds to the Khuda Baksh Library in Patna, the Rampur Raza library in UP and the Delhi public library. The Prime Minister said his government believes in the plurality of Indian culture, freedom of cultural expression and in the importance of culture in social progress.