Know your Ministry - No. 12 - Culture

Ministry of Culture plays a huge role in the development agenda of our country in terms of set of shared attitudes, values, goals and practices of the country’s rich heritage. It is headed by a Minster of State having independent charge which has mandated with functions like preservation and conservation of our cultural heritage and promotion of all forms of art and culture, both tangible and intangible. The scope of Ministry’s task is wide, ranging from generating cultural awareness at grassroots level to promoting cultural exchanges at international level. In order to develop and sustain ways and means through which the creative and aesthetic sensibilities of the people remain active and dynamic the Ministry undertakes various activities that flow from subjects allocated under the Govt. of India’s Allocation of Business Rules. It has established a mission to preserve, promote and disseminate all forms of art and culture. It undertakes the following activities:

• Maintenance and conservation of heritage, historic sites and ancient monuments
• Administration of libraries.
• Promotion of literary, visual and performing arts.
• Observation of centenaries and anniversaries of important national personalities and events.
• Promotion of institutions and organizations of Buddhist and Tibetan studies.
• Promotion of institutional and individual non-official initiatives in Art & culture
• Entering into cultural agreements with foreign countries.
• Creating cultural awareness at the grass root level to the International cultural

Exchange level

SCHEMES

Scheme of Financial Assistance under Seva Bhoj Yojna, Scheme of Financial Assistance for for Promotion of Art and Culture, Scheme of Financial Assistance for Creation of Culture Infrastructure, Scheme of Scholarship and Fellowship for Promotion of Art and Culture, Certificate of Excellence Scheme for Museum Professionals, Museum Grant Scheme, Scheme for Pension and Medical Aid to Artistes, Scheme for Promotion of Culture of Sciences, Scheme for Culture Heritage Youth Leadership Programme, Scheme for Safeguarding the intangible Cultural Heritage, Scheme for Promoting international Cultural Relation, Scheme/Awards Rajbhasha and Indian Conservation Fellowship Program, Commemorations and Management of Central Secretariat Library

MISSIONS

Gandhi Heritage Site Mission, National Mission on Libraries, National Mission on Manuscripts, National Mission on Cultural Mapping and Roadmaps.

INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL RELATIONS (ICR)

Cultural Agreement, Cultural Relations, Festival of India Abroad and Recent Cultural Activities.

TANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

Archaeological Survey of India ,National Museum, National Gallery of Modern Art ,Indian Museum, Victoria Memorial Hall, Salarjung Museum, Allahabad Museum, National Council of Science Museums, National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology, National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property, National Mission for Monuments and Antiquities, National Mission for Manuscripts, Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission and National Culture Fund. 

INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

National School of Drama, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Sahitya Akademi, Lalit Kala Akademi, Sangeet Natak Akademi, The Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, West Zone Cultural Centre, North Zone Cultural Centre, South Zone Cultural Centre, Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, North East Zone Cultural Centre,South Central Zone Cultural Centre, North Central Zone Cultural Centre and Kalakshetra Foundation 

CHALLENGES AHEAD FOR THE MINISTRY

• To overcome all impediments in preserving the threads of Indian Art and Cultural Heritage.
• To formulate a suitable methodology to save the Indian artist community
• To ensure preservation of our rich cultural heritage for future generations.
• To establish coordination among the practitioners/institutions for development of these wide spread art forms.
• To develop a complete database of performing artists / resource persons and establish a robust cultural mapping to ensure availability of various art forms
• Lack of collaborative learning due to questionable quality of teaching faculties.
• Lack of skill development processes in the learning & encouragement of various art forms to excel.
• Decline in the conventional art, crafts, skill and cultural heritage of the country resulting in unnecessary investment on skill development for creation of alternate employment generation.

WAY FORWARD

Our country is blessed with huge ancient timeline, heritage and wide spread cultural canvass spread over thousands of years. Keeping this background the Ministry should ensure:

• Availability of an art workforce all over the country can be used as a resource for development of planned economic activities.
• Develop popularity of Culture amongst the youth to be adopted as a means of livelihood.
• Protection of all Performing arts from invasion/intrusion from the western arts into Indian Culture and help facilitate for promotion of new and innovative forms of creative arts.
• Since there is a large audience who are interested in Indian Culture, the Ministry needs to explore the scope for large scale financial avenue from foreign countries in show casing our rich culture and through Film and Entertainment industry.
• Regularly organise cultural programmes in the promotion of Indian culture abroad where people of Indian Origin/Indian Diaspora have a substantial presence.
• Encourage and identify the potential for development of economic activities in various forms of arts such as sculpture, pottery, woven silk, music, dance, etc through skill development in identified trade areas for large scale employment generation.
• Dynamically update and document each and every activity and findings of cultural excavation projects which are underway various heritage and historic locations across the country.
• Identify Areas engaging scholars from reputed Universities and take up Extensive Research on classical languages based on our rich heritage and culture.
• Establish a suitable legal framework in the preservation of Culture.