Monday, Sep 13, 2004
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Advts: Classifieds | Employment | New Delhi
By Mandira Nayar
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 12. Determined to safeguard the "invisible'' heritage of the country threatened by the pressures of globalisation, the Department of Culture is planning to set up the National Mission for Intangible Heritage. Proposed along the lines of the National Mission for Preservation of Monuments and the National Mission for Preservation of Antiquities by the previous Government, the National Mission for Intangible Heritage will work to document and prepare an inventory of oral traditions, religion, rituals, folklore, mythology and lifestyle patterns across the country. "A major task of the Mission would be to make an exhaustive inventory of all the aspects of intangible cultural heritage. There are different organisations like the Sangeet Natak Akademi that have documented dance forms but the focus has been more on cultural expression rather than on oral and tangible knowledge systems. India has an unbroken stream of culture that links the past to the present. But over the years, we have lost our links,'' an official stated. The Mission is an attempt to reclaim and re-establish these links. It will not only record these traditions for the future, but also provide incentives to revive them. There will also be a special focus on the custodians of this heritage -- women and elders. Despite the ambitious plans this Mission may have, it seems to be a repetition of the work done by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), experts allege. While the other two Missions are also a duplication of the work that the Archaeological Survey of India is meant to do, at least they do expand the boundaries of the organisation in one way and make it more efficient in another. However, with the concept of the Mission not very different from the concept of the IGNCA, its purpose seems equally intangible, some experts believe. And the reasoning for setting up the Mission may be motivated by more than just the need to preserve intangible heritage, sources claimed. The total budgetary amount demanded by the Mission -- Rs. 100 crores -- adds a new dimension to the issue they believe. "The Mission mode that the Department of Culture has been adopting defeats the whole purpose of the exercise. Existing organisations should be strengthened instead of having new organisations replicating the work. It is understandable why the NDA Government would have wanted to start a new organisation. But it is strange that the Congress Government is continuing the plan,'' sources revealed. For their part, officials in the Department of Culture insist there is no such `political' reasoning behind the Mission. "The mandate is different from the IGNCA. There are so many other organisations doing similar work like the IGNCA. The Mission will make an inventory first and co-ordinate activities with organisations doing similar work across the country. India has signed a charter with UNESCO to preserve Intangible Heritage recently; this Mission is just continuing that aim. The Mission will provide a national vision for this activity, unlike IGNCA,'' a source stated.
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