INDIA, January 8, 2016 (Press Information Bureau): The project of “Cultural Mapping of India” under which data of artists shall be collected, has been initiated by the Ministry of Culture in order to carry out a survey on Cultural Topography of the country. A number of meetings of experts has been held since 15 May, 2015 in order to conceptualize the project. The work of entry of data of artists has been assigned to Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT), New Delhi. So far data on more than 5.5 million artists has been collected.
Under this scheme, a web portal would be developed through National Informatics Centre (NIC) for collection of data directly from artistes online for cultural mapping, which will serve as an artist repository and which can be used in future for the purpose of providing grant-in aid under various cultural schemes administered by this ministry.
The mandate of the Ministry of Culture is to preserve, promote, explore and share India’s culture and heritage along with its ethos and values for the benefit of mankind. In pursuance of this vision, among others, the ministry has been administering a few finance-based schemes to identify, nurture hand-hold and train the upcoming and budding artistes on a sustained basis. This is carried out by way of grant of scholarships, fellowships, pensions, and other forms of grants/assistance.