National Schemes and Policies for Promotion of Arts and Culture

The promotion, preservation, and dissemination of India’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage are managed under the Ministry of Culture through an ecosystem of financial schemes, autonomous institutions, national missions, and statutory frameworks. These initiatives protect traditional arts, support living artists, digitize cultural assets, and strengthen institutional infrastructure across urban and rural regions. The policy architecture aligns cultural preservation with economic empowerment, tourism development, and social inclusion.

Major Schemes for Promotion and Financial Support

Scheme for Financial Assistance for Promotion of Art and Culture

This umbrella scheme provides financial support to cultural organizations, individual artists, and regional institutions across distinct components:

• Financial Assistance to Cultural Organizations with National Presence: Provides grants to reputed cultural groups to expand training, research, and production of traditional art forms.
• Cultural Function and Production Grant (CFPG): Offers financial assistance to non-governmental organizations, societies, and trusts to organize seminars, festivals, workshops, exhibitions, and dance or theater productions.
• Financial Assistance for Building Grants and Studio Theatres: Supports non-profit cultural organizations in constructing or upgrading auditoriums, studio theaters, and infrastructure facilities.
• Financial Assistance for Preservation and Development of Cultural Heritage of the Himalayas: Provides grants to institutions and individuals working to document, preserve, and promote Himalayan folk arts, music, crafts, and tribal traditions.

Scheme of Financial Assistance for Veteran Artists

Formerly known as the Scheme for Pension and Medical Aid to Artists, this initiative supports senior artists who have made contributions to Indian art and culture:

• Eligibility Threshold: Artists must be at least 60 years of age with an annual personal income below ₹48,000.
• Financial Assistance: Provides monthly financial support of up to ₹6,000 to eligible veteran artists and their surviving spouses in cases of severe financial distress.

Scheme of Scholarships and Fellowships for Promotion of Art and Culture

• Award of Scholarships to Young Artistes in Different Cultural Fields: Provides financial support to talented individuals aged 18 to 25 years for advance training in classical music, dance, theater, visual arts, and traditional folk art forms for a duration of two years.
• Fellowships to Outstanding Persons in the Field of Culture: Awards Senior Fellowships (for artists aged 40 and above) and Junior Fellowships (for artists aged 25 to 40) to conduct research projects in Indian performing arts, literary arts, plastic arts, and rare cultural heritage domains.

National Missions for Cultural Preservation

National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA)

• Establishment: Launched in March 2007 under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
• Mandate: Prepares a national database of built heritage, sites, and antiquities by documenting both protected and unprotected historical monuments across the country.

National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM)

• Establishment: Launched in February 2003 by the Ministry of Culture.
• Motto: Samrakshika Parama Maheshvari (Conserving the future through the past).
• Mandate: Locates, documents, conserves, and digitizes rare Indian manuscripts written in various scripts and languages, establishing a national database through the Kritisampada digital portal.

National Mission on Cultural Mapping (NMCM)

• Establishment: Launched in 2017 and later transferred to the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) in 2021.
• Mandate: Executes the Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar project, mapping the cultural identity, traditional art forms, local festivals, and heritage of all villages across India onto a centralized spatial portal.

Institutional Framework for Cultural Administration

Regional and Community Initiatives

Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs)

The Ministry of Culture manages seven regional Zonal Cultural Centres established between 1985 and 1987 to preserve, promote, and present folk, tribal, and traditional art forms:

• North Zone Cultural Centre: Patiala, Punjab
• South Zone Cultural Centre: Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
• Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre: Kolkata, West Bengal
• Western Zonal Cultural Centre: Udaipur, Rajasthan
• North East Zone Cultural Centre: Dimapur, Nagaland
• North Central Zone Cultural Centre: Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh
• South Central Zone Cultural Centre: Nagpur, Maharashtra

Guru-Shishya Parampara Scheme

Implemented through the seven Zonal Cultural Centres, this initiative provides financial stipends to traditional art masters (Gurus) and their young disciples (Shishyas) to transfer rare, dying, or marginalized folk and tribal art forms to future generations.

National Cultural Fund (NCF)

• Establishment: Set up as a trust in November 1996 under the Charitable Endowments Act, 1890.
• Purpose: Enables private corporations, public sector undertakings (PSUs), and individuals to contribute corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds directly toward the restoration and preservation of protected monuments and cultural projects.

Key Facts for Quick Revision

• The Ministry of Culture administers seven Zonal Cultural Centres across the country to support regional folk traditions.
• The Sangeet Natak Akademi was the first national cultural academy set up by the Government of India in 1953.
• The Sahitya Akademi recognizes literary works in 24 languages, including the 22 languages of the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, plus English and Rajasthani.
• The National Mission for Manuscripts operates with the motto Samrakshika Parama Maheshvari.
• The Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar project is implemented under the National Mission on Cultural Mapping by IGNCA.
• The Archaeological Survey of India was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham, who served as its first Director-General.
• Financial assistance under the Scheme for Veteran Artists requires the applicant to be at least 60 years old with an annual income below ₹48,000.
• The National Cultural Fund allows 100% tax exemption for financial contributions under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act.
• The Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) administers the Cultural Talent Search Scholarship Scheme for children aged 10 to 14 years.
• The Guru-Shishya Parampara Scheme focuses on passing down rare, endangered folk and tribal arts through direct mentorship.