Kolkata, Jan 16 (Inditop.com) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday voiced unhappiness over the “neglect” of many of India’s cultural show pieces and the manner in which priceless artefacts were preserved and displayed, which had “fallen behind contemporary world standards”.
“The world associates us with our cultural showpieces – our monuments, works of art and historical remains. Many of these are lying in neglect,” Prime Minster Manmohan Singh said at a function in Science City here.
“The fact of the manner is also that, despite our best intentions, the manner in which we preserve and display our artefacts has fallen behind contemporary world standards,” the prime minister said.
The government has taken up revamp of the museums on a priority basis. The Central Advisory Board on Culture has been asked to suggest a plan of action to make the Indian museums into world class organisations, he said.
“We will have to draw upon the best expertise available in conservation, multi-media display, design, lighting, narration and communication so that visits to our museums become memorable experiences,” he said.
“There is no reason why the Indian museum or our other premier museums cannot be on par with the Smithsonian, the Hermitage or the British Museum,” he said.
The government was also laying key priority on technological upgradation of the archives of the leading institutions like the Sangeet Natak Academi, the Films Division, the Zonal Cultural Centres, the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts.
They have a wealth of valuable audio-visual materials which need immediate preservation, he said and assured that the culture ministry will extend all assistance needed to preserve, digitise and popularise the materials which document India’s contemporary cultural history.
The prime minister said the annual salary grants to theatre and dance groups have been doubled. The culture ministry was also finalising a scheme of financial assistance for setting up small, intimate performing spaces known as studio theatres for smaller audiences.
He said the Coordination Committee of three National Academies has decided to work for systematically popularising Indian literature abroad.
“The modalities and funding are now being worked out. I do hope that in the coming years, modern Indian literature and our classics would be available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish and English,” he said.
He also called for efforts to promote regional studies and study of foreign languages in India.
