By Our Staff Reporter
DEHRADUN, 11 Nov: “The glorious folk, traditional and spiritual folk cultural heritage of Uttarakhand holds its own place not only in India but in the whole world,” said Satpal Maharaj on Wednesday at the Azad Bhawan in New Delhi in his address while participating in the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding between ICCR and the State Governments. He said that, after this agreement, the artists would be able to show their talent abroad and view the art of foreign artists.
About 23 MoUs were signed between the State Governments.
The Culture Minister said that the Culture Department of Uttarakhand is making continuous efforts for the conservation and promotion of the historical, archaeological and cultural heritage of the state. At present, a total of 257 cultural groups are listed under the Department of Culture from different places of the state. With the aim of making the folk artists working in the field of folk culture financially strong, a scheme of monthly pension at the rate of Rs 3000 to those who have completed 60 years of age is operational. Under this scheme, monthly pension is being provided to 147 artists of the state.
Maharaj added that there is also a plan to organise workshops, audio-visual documentation for the conservation of cultural heritage, folk saga and folk arts, etc., in the state on a large scale. A plan is being run to preserve the art forms, various styles of the historical folk cultural heritage of the state and to archive them, so that we can be successful in preserving our folk cultural traditions for the future generations.
On this occasion, Tourism and Culture Minister of Uttar Pradesh Jaiveer Singh, Sikkim’s Culture Minister Samdup Lepcha, Chhattisgarh’s Culture Minister Amarjit Bhagat, Madhya Pradesh’s Culture Minister Usha Babu Singh Thakur and Indian Council of Cultural Relations President Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe were present.
