For the sake of national integrity, social solidarity, communal harmony and humanism: Promoting India’s tribal and folk artists in pursuit of excellence

Since the days of remote past, the diversified art & cultural forms generated by the tribal and rural people of India, have continued to evince their creative magnificence. Apart from their outstanding brilliance from the perspective of aesthetics, the tribal/folk art and culture forms have played an instrumental role in reinforcing national integrity, crystallizing social solidarity, fortifying communal harmony, intensifying value-system and promoting the elements of humanism among the people of the country. However with the passage of time and advent of globalization, we have witnessed the emergence of a synthetic homogeneous macro-culture. 

Under the influence of such a voracious all-pervasive macro-culture the diversified heterogeneous tribal/folk culture of our country are suffering from attrition and erosion. Thus the stupendous socio-cultural exclusivity of the multifarious communities at the different nooks and corners of our country are getting endangered.  […]  

The performers of the Tribal/Folk Arts and Culture should continually upgrade their creative flair and operational skill so that they themselves can play a proactive role in bolstering the foundation and ensuring the sustainability of Tribal /Folks Arts and Culture. They should adopt a proactive stance in carrying the rich cultural legacy of India and proceed forward in pursuit of functional excellence. […]

Source: Final Report, Evaluation Study of Tribal/Folk Arts and Culture in West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhatisgrah and Bihar. Submitted to SER Division Planning Commission Govt. of India New Delhi. Submitted by Gramin Vikas Seva Sanshtha Dist. 24 Parganas (North), West Bengal 700129 INDIA
URL: http://planningcommission.gov.in/reports/sereport/ser/ser_folk2211.pdf
Date visited: 11 August 2019

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REPORT OF HPC [High Powered Committee] ON THE AKADEMIS AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS UNDER THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE, MAY, 2014

[excerpts]

PREAMBLE
p.2 [epigram]
“A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people”: Mahatma
Gandhi

3. THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE

p. 10 [epigram]
“Once we are destined to live out our lives in the prison of our minds, our one duty is to furnish it well.”: Peter Ustinov

p. 11
3.7 Our traditional folk and tribal art, for example, are not part of modern gallery displays. But, when we consider our visual arts administration, this only highlights a limitation in our approach. It is essential that we look afresh at what ails the showcasing of our cultural wealth.

“Indian Institutes of Art and Culture”, p. 19
3.38 Our capacity in the management of cultural expressions and, more directly, the administration of cultural institutions is woefully inadequate. We need to provide support for training, education and capacity building in all facets of the creative arts. There is virtually no formal learning programme in India today for cultural administration. The management of museums, art galleries, performance spaces, has a significant managerial content apart from the knowledge, skills and interest in these arts.

3.39 At the same time, the various performing and visual art forms that are centre-stage today must be provided ample opportunity for their continuing articulation. Government funds, in a limited way, various private schools of dance and music. However, this is neither sufficient, nor are any quality standards prescribed or maintained. In the sphere of the performing arts, to preserve our cultural heritage in its different traditions, there is an essential need to preserve and foster those folk, tribal and community cultural traditions which are in danger of extinction on account of social change, technological innovation and market forces. At the same time, there is a heightened need to provide space to all forms of classical dance and music, and offer scope for their continued development.

“Synergy and Coordination Issues”, pp. 35-36
4.60 The support for tribal and folk forms must not be a token one. There has been criticism of the lack of structural balance and in programmatic effort by the Akademis. This would be reduced if issues of equity are addressed through the use of the ZCCs to reach out to a larger non-metropolitan, non-sophisticate audience. From the culture pool of young men and women to be appointed by the MOC contractually, one should be placed in each ZCC to liaise with the Akademis.

“Music, Dance, Theatre and Traditional Forms”, p. 44 
5.26 We would like to make special reference here to the variety of music that exists in India. The emphasis in the Akademi has been on the classical forms, Hindustani and Carnatic. But, as we have noted, the work on other traditional systems is limited. Baul is an intangible heritage of UNESCO, but inscribed by Bangladesh, when this form of song and music is equally popular in West Bengal and some other parts of eastern India. It seems to find no place in the scheme of things of the SNA. Is ‘new tradition’ an oxymoron? Rabindra Sangeet, which did not exist 150 years ago, is such an influence today among Bengalis. Is it now traditional? It is certainly not folk or tribal. Perhaps a better researched listing and grouping of forms may be required. Perhaps too much of categorisation is the problem.

10. ZONAL CULTURAL CENTRES
pp. 85-86 [epigram] “Perhaps life is a mystery, not a muddle; they could not tell. Perhaps the hundred Indias which fuss and squabble so tiresomely are one, and the universe they mirror is one.”: E. M. Forster in A Passage to India

10.1 The ZCCs [Zonal Cultural Centres] were set up in 1980s, first 5 of them in 1985-86 and then two more in 1986-87 (Annexure XXXIX). The objectives of the Centres, according to their Memoranda of Association, are to preserve, innovate and promote the projection and dissemination of the arts in the concerned zones; to develop and promote their cultural diversity; to encourage folk and tribal arts and aid the preservation of vanishing arts; to involve youth in creative cultural communication and lay special emphasis on the linkages among different areas and their contribution to Indian culture. The intention was to take cultural action nearer to the people across the country. After 25 years of their working, the MOC set up the Mani Shankar Aiyar Committee in 2010 to study the functioning of these Centres. […]  

10.9 The proposal for the creation of a new Akademi is clearly because tribal and folk art forms have not received sufficient encouragement from the three Akademis, more importantly here the SNA and the LKA. Work in rural and oral literary traditions have also not found much space in the SA. But we believe that our task is to propose synergy between institutions, and not create silos. We believe that the creation of another Akademi will not resolve the problem of insufficient emphasis of tribal and folk forms by the existing Akademis. Instead, it will create another stream and never the twain shall meet.

Source: “REPORT OF HPC ON THE AKADEMIS AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS UNDER THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE, MAY, 2014” | Backup: HPC REPORT 2014.pdf (800 KB) >>
URL: https://www.indiaculture.gov.in/sites/default/files/hpc_report/HPC%20REPORT%202014.pdf
Date Visited: 22 July 2025

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