JAGATSINGHPUR: Hundreds of Bhagabata Tungis, the socio-cultural hub in Odisha’s religious landscape, are running in dilapidated condition in the coastal district of Jagatsinghpur. Though the State Government initiated steps to give these cultural centres a new lease of life, those have failed to materialise at grassroot level so far.
Tungis were the places where villagers gathered in the evening to listen to discourses from Bhagavad Gita. But with changing times and influence of western culture, the Bhagabata Tungis disappeared from rural areas. However, several centres are running in dilapidated condition by the locals due to fund crunch.
Tungi was a talking point at seminars and symposiums at different points of time. Former Governor MC Bhandare had pitched for its revival in 2009 at a national seminar in the Capital. Similarly, former culture minister Maheswar Mohanty raised the issue at a national-level art exhibition in Bhubaneswar in 2013. Then the department went into an overdrive to chalk out a plan in 2013-14. But the plan was put on the backburner subsequently.
In 2014-15, the Culture Department had drawn up a budget of `25,000 to revive each tungi along with `10,000 for sound system and `15,000 as corpus fund. It had fixed a target to restore 1,200 such institutions every financial year.
District-level committees under the Collector have been constituted to assess the veracity of claims in applications. At least 431 applications were received in 2015 -2016 and 198 in 2016-2017 for renovation of tungis. However, out of total 629 applications, only 40 tungis of eight blocks have received funds in the district, sources said.
Former Panchayat Samiti member Rabindra Nayak said there are 10 Bhagabata Tungis in Sanpur panchayat and due to lack of fund, these centres have been completely damaged. Though villagers had applied for the fund, the local administration is yet to approve it.
The villagers alleged that due to interference of ruling party leaders and irregularities in selection of tungis, they failed to get the money.
District Culture Officer Arabinda Jena said the office has received only `10 lakh towards renovation of Bhagabata Tungis while the department released fund for only 40 tungis last year. Meanwhile, the administration has sent 198 applications to the department for fund in current financial year, he added.