Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch takes Over as Union Minister of Culture
Recently appointed Cabinet Minister Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch today assumed charge as Union Minister of Culture. Talking to newspersons after taking over, she said, it has been an honour for her to have been appointed Culture Minister of this great country which has a long legacy of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage. She said, it is especially a privilege to be head of this Ministry in a period of increasing global engagement when we are entering into an era of cultural dialogue which is dictated by new developments and technologies. She said, the challenge before us is both to preserve our historical legacy while incorporating and fostering an environment for development of evolving cultural spaces. Culture is not only an abstract concept but also contributes to the daily lives of people both in terms of cultural and economic aspects.
The Minister said, she would like to focus on increased coordination with the Ministries of Tourism, HRD and External Affairs to ensure a focused and coordinated efforts to promote culture which not only project India’s soft power, but also benefit the cultural and economic lives of all our citizens. Listing her priorities, she said, her focus would be on -
(i) Dialogue with the State Governments to ensure that our monuments are more visitors friendly.
(ii) To improve the quality of our museums and introduce the best practices in them.
(iii) To promote both classical and folk arts through the various organizations under the Ministry and foster a vibrant relationship with a very large number of autonomous organizations which are part of this Ministry.
(iv) To energize the Library Mission and to harness existing technologies for this purpose as well as to promote archival initiatives.
(v) To encourage partnership with the private sector in preserving and promoting India’s culture.
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