NEW DELHI: The organisations working to preserve and promote artistic activities under the administrative supervision of the Ministry of Culture have been operating with limited workforce.
According to a parliamentary panel report, three Akademis — Sangeet Natak Akademi, Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, and Lalit Kala Akademi — are functioning with less than 40 per cent of their sanctioned strength.
The National School of Drama has approximately 48 percent and Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts has around 36 per cent vacancies against their sanctioned strengths respectively, stated the government’s action-taken-report on the recommendations or observations of the committee regarding the functioning of national Akademis and other cultural institutions.
In its report tabled in the House earlier this week, the standing committee on transport, tourism and culture chaired by Rajya Sabha MP of Janata Dal (United) Sanjay Kumar Jha also sought to know the reason for huge vacancies.
“The committee may be apprised of the reasons for such meager working strength in the Akademis and urges the ministry to make concentrated efforts to streamline the processes and initiate the recruitment process at the earliest,” the report read.
The committee earlier observed that the institutions in questions are affected by vacancies and a lack of trained manpower. It said that lack of manpower not only affects the working of these organisations but also hinders their efficiency. It had recommended the ministry to take up measures to fill up those vacancies within a fixed period.
In its response, the ministry stated that all the posts lying vacant for more than five years had been abolished, hence it requires approval from the ministry of finance as per the guidelines. “The ministry of culture is making continuous efforts to revive these posts. Further, the recruitment process for the posts lying vacant for less than five years are undergoing expeditiously in all the academies,” the culture ministry submitted.
The panel also observed that given their distinct frameworks and mandate, each Akademi should have its own dedicated functioning authority.
“The administrative sections responsible for tasks such as hiring manpower, purchasing, HR issues, and budget management should be clearly defined in each Akademi and be empowered to ensure efficient functioning,” it stated.
The standing committee further asked the culture ministry to prepare a consolidated proposal for additional budget, keeping in view the expansion requirements of each Akademi after reassessing their budgetary requirements, as sufficient budget is crucial for their growth.