Sangeet Natak Akademi secretary Jayant Kastuar at a meeting with culture minister Baidyanath Ram and other officials in Ranchi. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, Feb. 9: Culture is the latest buzzword in the capital’s corridor of power. Barely a month after becoming the member of the East Zone Cultural Centre (EZCC), the Jharkhand government has now opened up channels of communication with the Sangeet Natak Akademi to boost cultural activities in the state.

Sangeet Natak Akademi secretary and chief executive officer Jayant Kastuar today met culture minister Baidynath Ram, secretary N.N. Pandey and other officials in Ranchi to chalk out a programme blueprint for Jharkhand. The department also announced the line-up for Bharat Utsav to be organised by the cultural centre in Ranchi on February 22 and February 23. It will feature Bihu and Nyishi dances from Assam, Odissi from Orissa and Bharatnatyam from Tamil Nadu.

Artistes from the state will perform Paika, Maradana Jhumur, besides classical music and other dances. “We have several plans for Jharkhand. We have held discussions with the minister and officials about the programmes that we would like to conduct this year. Our immediate focus would be on the Akademi’s golden jubilee celebrations, which have already been inaugurated by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in Delhi on January 28,” Kastuar told The Telegraph.

He was accompanied by programme officer Omprakash Bharti. As part of the golden jubilee celebrations, the Sangeet Natak Akademi will organise a programme on performing arts at the end of May which will be attended by artistes from Jharkhand and other states. National-level experts will also attend a seminar. “Besides the golden jubilee events, the akademi will also organise other programmes in Jharkhand. Our focus will be on the new generation. We plan to organise a festival showcasing efforts by stage directors below 40 years of age in September. There will also be an open-air sangeet-nritya utsav featuring national and local classical artistes,” Kastuar said.

Officials also suggested some programmes which Kastuar agreed to support. Culture officer H.P. Sinha said the centre will help the department organise inter-state cultural exchange programmes. “Two teams from Jharkhand will present six programmes in two states while two teams from other states will visit Jharkhand and perform at six places. To begin with, the akademi will organise an Assamese Assam folk dance around Holi,” Sinha said.

The akademi has also agreed to give grants to cultural organisations in the state. “We have asked the government to forward a list of institutions, which would get Sangeet Natak Akademi grants under various schemes. We have asked them to recommend four names from Jharkhand for akademi awards,” Kastuar said. The akademi has also taken up the task of promoting Saraikella’s Chhau dance at national and international levels. It recently organised a theatre workshop in Bokaro, which was attended by theatre personalities from the country. It now plans to organise a playwrights’ workshop where participants would be trained to script new-age plays in Indian languages.

Kastuar said the response of the minister and the officials was

“positive”. On the delay in constituting a state-level SNA, Kastuar

refused to comment, saying this was a state subject. He, however, said a

state should have a separate nodal agency for nurturing art and culture

as a general government department cannot handle various sensitive

issues in this field.

EoM

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