Zonal Cultural Centres:
The Union Culture Ministry has set up seven Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs) across the country for conservation and development of art, culture and crafts across the country.
- Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs) have been set up at Patiala, Nagpur, Udaipur, Prayagraj, Kolkata, Dimapur, and Thanjavur.
- Government of India has provided annual grant-in-aid to conduct art programmes at these centres.
- The ministry also organises Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsavs (RSMs) through these ZCCs where a large number of artistes from all over India are engaged to showcase their talents.
- These ZCCs also organise a minimum 42 Regional Festivals for promotion of art and culture every year as per their programme calendar.
- For proper storage of the treasure of knowledge for posterity, several art forms including the vanishing ones are being documented by these ZCCs.
- Number of arts forms have been documented in digital format (both audio and video formats).
- Further, for preservation and promotion of various folk arts & culture of the country, these ZCCs also implement a number of schemes viz. Award to Young Talented Artists, Guru Shishya Parampara, Theatre Rejuvenation, Research and Documentation, Shilpgram, OCTAVE and National Cultural Exchange Programme.
