Question : CONSERVATION OF CULTURE

(a) whether the Union Government has taken any steps for conservation and development of various cultures, customs and traditions of the North East;

(b) if so, whether any steps has been taken to promote and portray the diverse culture of the North East in the print media and on television; and

(c) if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF CULTURE (SMT. CHANDRESH KUMARI KATOCH)

(a): The Ministry of Culture through various Schemes and through its attached, subordinate and autonomous Organizations is making efforts to preserve the traditional art forms throughout the country, including the North-Eastern States.

(b) & (c): The steps taken in this direction are as follows:

i) Ministry of Culture releases financial assistance / grants to Organisations, Societies, Trusts, Universities and individuals throughout the country including those in North-East region under its Schemes “Cultural Functions Grants Scheme” and “Financial Assistance to Professional Groups and Individuals engaged for specified Performing Arts Projects”. Further, in order to promote the unique cultural heritage of the North-East region and to promote the overall cultural development of the region, 10% of the total allocation of Annual Plan of the Ministry is earmarked for the development of art and culture in the North-East.

ii) A Zonal Cultural Centre has been set up for the North East region at Nagaland, the objective of which is preservation, promotion and dissemination of the traditional folk arts and culture of various States of the North-East.

iii) Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya organises various programmes on culture, customs and traditions in the North East as also programmes focused on various aspects of Indian culture in which artists from North East take part. They release advertisements and press notes of these programmes in local newspapers as also scroll advertisements in local television channels.

iv) Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA) is taking steps to preserve the traditional art forms of North-East by organizing camps, seminars, art work, art festival, film shows etc.

v) Sahitya Akademi gives away awards in all the languages recognized by it including the North-Eastern languages like Assamese, Bodo, Manipuri and Nepali. It also holds a programme called “Loka: The Many Voices”, a programme consisting of lectures and demonstrations. This programme was conceived to protect and preserve the folk and tribal art and culture, which includes the North Eastern culture also.

vi) Centre for Cultural Resources and Training organizes a number of training programmes in the North East region to conserve and develop various cultures, customs and traditions of the North East. It also makes documentaries on such diverse cultural traditions and prints publications on these traditions, which are distributed to school teachers for dissemination among the students. In addition, audio and video CDs are prepared.

vii) Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai has been patronizing North-eastern art forms by inviting artists from north-eastern states to perform at Chennai.