The Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge), Tourism (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation has said that a weekly monitoring system will be introduced soon for the various organizations under the Union Ministry of Culture. The Minister insisted on timely spending of funds while reviewing their working at the First meeting of the Heads of Organisations under the charge of Ministry of Culture in New Delhi today. The Minister emphasized that 67% of the funds must be spent by December as per guidelines and targets must be met by the various organizations.
Dr. Sharma revealed that it is a dream of the Prime Minister that the rich cultural heritage of India should reach the remotest corner of the world via media of tourism and on wings of civil aviation. India is identified by virtue of its rich heritage, and the Ministry of Culture comprises of the custodians of this rich cultural heritage, a distinction of which they should be proud, he added. To highlight the importance of these organizations and their officials, a booklet on all the organizations and its officials under the Ministry of Culture will be published, the Minister said.
Dr Sharma said that it is essential to promote the Indian culture among its own youth who must be acquainted with the rich cultural heritage of the country from the school level itself. International circuits must be created to attract foreign tourists. The Minister said that social media and interactive website can provide a major platform to increase the visibility of the Indian culture especially amongst foreign tourists. Outlining the priorities over the next one month, Dr Sharma said that cleaning the monuments under the Swachha Bharat Campaign, providing security to tourists and connectivity to poorly connected destinations will be implemented soon. The Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Mr. Ravinder Singh took a review of the performance of all the organizations including timely spending of funds. The representatives of various organizations under the Ministry of Culture including, ASI, NMML, SNA, IGNCA. National School of Drama, Lalit Kala Academy, zonal cultural centers etc attended the meeting.