By IANS,
New Delhi: A delegation of Carnatic and Hindustani clasical musicians met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here Wednesday and demanded corporate and public sector funds for the promotion of classical arts and patronage to the ‘guru-shishya parampara’.
The musicians, who met the prime minister under the aegis of All India Musicians Group (AIMG), included the finest exponents of the Indian classical tradition like flautist Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Husain, noted vocalists Pt. Rajan Mishra, T.N. Krishnan and Sudha Raghunathan among others, a culture ministry release said.
The delegation sought from the prime minister, who also holds the culture portfolio, more funds for the revitalisation of the state and allied ‘akademis’ and cultural hubs.
They also wanted to know whether it was possible to host a dedicated television channel for classical arts; re-emphasising of music education in schools and developing a national repository of performing arts of India.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recognised their contribution to take forward the cultural heritage of India. He said that it was necessary to have in place adequate institutional arrangements to support classical arts, which were the “soul of India”, the release said.
The prime minister added that “their presence reminded us all of the great cultural and civilizational tradition of India”, according to the statement.
Manmohan Singh told the delegation that India’s emergence as an economic power could only be completed when our country’s profile adequately reflects “our soft power as reflected by our achievements in the cultural field”.
He also said funding of projects suggested by the AIMG should not normally be a problem and he looked forward to another meeting with the group after some headway was made on their suggestions, the ministry statement said.