Ministry of Culture: Schemes, Festivals and Programs

The Ministry of Culture acts as the custodian of India’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage. It preserves historical monuments, protects archives, promotes performing arts, and manages public libraries across the country. The ministry executes its mandate through attached offices, subordinate offices, and autonomous institutions. It also implements flagship financial assistance schemes, national festivals, and outreach programs to support folk and classical artists.

Core Schemes of the Ministry of Culture

Seva Bhoj Yojana

• Objective: Reimburses Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) and Central Government share of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) paid on specific raw food items.
• Eligible Institutions: Religious and charitable bodies like temples, gurudwaras, mosques, churches, and monasteries that provide free food (langar or prasadam) to the public without discrimination.
• Eligibility Criteria: The institution must serve free food to at least 5,000 people per month and operate continuously for at least three years.

Kala Sanskriti Vikas Yojana (KSVY)

KSVY functions as an umbrella scheme for financial assistance to performing arts and cultural organizations.

• Financial Assistance for Promotion of Art and Culture: Provides monthly pensions to veteran artists aged 60 years and above living in indigent circumstances.
• Scheme for Building Grants: Assists non-governmental cultural organizations in constructing or upgrading theatre auditoriums and performance halls.
• Cultural Function Grant Scheme (CFGS): Offers financial support to non-profit groups holding seminars, dance dramas, theatre, and music festivals.

National Mission on Cultural Mapping (NMCM)

• Objective: Collects comprehensive data on art forms, artists, and cultural spaces across Indian villages under the Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar program.
• Execution: Operates through the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) to create a centralized national cultural database.

Dharohar Bharat Ki and Museum Grant Scheme

• Museum Grant Scheme: Funds the creation of new regional museums and modernizes existing state and district museums.
• Digitization Support: digitizes rare manuscripts and museum artifacts through the Jatan museum collection management software.

Major Festivals and Public Outreach Initiatives

Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav (RSM)

• Core Mandate: Organized under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat campaign to promote inter-state cultural exchange.
• Features: Displays traditional folk dances, classical music performances, handicrafts, and regional cuisines across various Indian states.

Festival of India (Abroad)

• Global Outreach: Organizes multi-month cultural festivals in foreign partner countries to highlight Indian classical arts, yoga, film, and heritage crafts.
• Execution: Managed jointly with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and local Indian embassies.

Key Attached and Autonomous Institutions

Essential Facts for Quick Revision

• The Ministry of Culture originated as the Department of Culture within the Ministry of Education in 1972, gaining full ministry status in 1999.
• Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was established in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham, who served as its first Director-General.
• The Sahitya Akademi recognizes literature written in 24 languages, including 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule plus English and Rajasthani.
• The Delivery of Books and Newspapers (Public Libraries) Act of 1954 obligates publishers to send one copy of every published book to the National Library in Kolkata.
• The Sangeet Natak Akademi maintains specialized training centers like the Kathak Kendra in New Delhi and the Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy in Imphal.
• The Jatan software was developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) Pune to build digital archives for Indian national museums.
• The Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar portal documents cultural assets across all 6.5 lakh villages in India.
• The Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata functions as an autonomous museum under the administrative control of the Ministry of Culture.