Indian Conservation Fellowship Programme (ICFP)
The Government of India actively promotes Indian culture and literature across the country. Indian Literature and Culture are vital aspects of their promotions.
The Ministry of Culture, through its autonomous bodies, has undertaken various measures to promote Indian literature and culture in the rural and traditional areas. These measures are given as follows:
Sahitya Akademi (SA) plays a vital role in fostering Indian literature and culture in 24 recognized languages. In addition to its regular programs and publications, SA has initiated several projects and schemes to enhance literary awareness and talent. Notable among these are the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat and Gramalok series.
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) focuses on cultural preservation and documentation, promotion of regional languages, promotion of performing arts and development of traditional art forms, which are intrinsic elements of Indian Literature and Culture.
Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) implements the scholarships and fellowship scheme like Cultural Talent Search Scholarship Scheme, Scheme for “Award of Scholarships to Young Artists (SYA) in different cultural fields”, fellowship scheme for the award of fellowships to outstanding persons in the field of culture for the promotion of cultural tradition and literature in the rural and traditional areas.
The Indian Conservation Fellowship Pilot Program (ICFPP)
The Ministry of Culture undertook the Indian Conservation Fellowship Pilot Program (ICFPP). It did so in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York and the Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limburg of the Netherlands. The Ministry of Culture, and the MMA, New York signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on 19.03.2013 for two years.
The Indian Conservation Fellowship Program (ICFP)
Thereafter, the Ministry of Culture and MMA, New York signed a MoU on 27.06.2016. They launched the Indian Conservation Fellowship Program (ICFP) from 2016 to 2021. Consequently, the Ministry of Culture will undertake this in collaboration with the MMA, New York, SRAL of Netherlands, and others. These include: the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Brussels (“KIK-IRPA”), and the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, The Smithsonian Museums of Asian Art, Washington, DC (“FG”) with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (the “Mellon Foundation”).
This fellowship aims to equip the participants with skills to better care for collections at their home institutions. All in all it will help them establish a larger and stronger conservation community in India. Above all, they will have international links to professionals in the field. So far, 36 conservators from India have received fellowships under ICFP (17 conservators during the pilot program and 19 conservators during the main program).
Classical Languages of India
The Government of India has recognized the following 11 languages as Classical Languages: Tamil, Telugu, Sanskrit, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese, and Bengali. Each of these languages has a history spanning at least 1500 years, representing rich Indian literature and culture. They reflect the uniqueness of their respective communities and regions. These languages encompass a vast corpus of ancient literature and texts, regarded as invaluable heritage by generations of speakers. They include knowledge texts, particularly prose, alongside poetry, epigraphical, and inscriptional evidence, showcasing their historical and cultural significance.
Digital Archives
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) has created Digital Archives for regional languages, traditional art forms, and performing arts. Digital Museums showcase regional art and culture. Various activities are carried out through National Cultural Audiovisual Archives (NCAA) of Cultural Informatics Lab (CIL) Division of the IGNCA. The National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) under the Ministry of Culture is documenting and digitalizing ancient texts.
The Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat shared this information in Lok Sabha in the first week of December 2024.
Reference
Press Information Bureau: ICFP for Indian Literature and Culture