Updated on: Thursday, March 03, 2011
Kumari Selja, the Union Minister of Culture said her ministry was working on a proposal to set up five new regional centres of National School of Drama (NSD) at Bengaluru and Kolkata and in Maharashtra/Goa, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast.
In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Selja said the Bengaluru centre had already been made operational on an ad hoc basis.
The remaining centres can come up only after suitable accommodation is made available by the state governments concerned, she said.
She said a proposal by a group of classical artistes under the umbrella of the All India Musicians' Group (AIMG) to start a separate television channel for culture "was under consideration in consultation with the ministry of information and broadcasting".
In reply to a question about the allocation of funds to autonomous organisations under the ministry of culture, Selja said that with effect from 2010-2011, the pattern of the release of funds to autonomous organisations has been amended and funds are released in two instalments of 75 and 25 percent each.