Lok Sabha Question No. 577 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-05
Subject: Achievement of ICCR
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Amol Ramsing Kolhe, Gautham Sigamani Pon

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.577 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.02.2020

## ACHIEVEMENT OF ICCR

## 577. DR. AMOLRAMSING KOLHE:

SHRI GAUTAM SIGAMAANI PON:

SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA:

SHRI SHRINIWAS PATIL:

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the work being done through the Indian Council for Cultural Relations   (ICCR)   along   with   the   details   of   the   target   set   and   the achievements made during the last three years;
- (b) the   details   of   the   number   of   foreign   students   studying   in   Indian Universities on scholarship provided by ICCR, at present, State/UT-wise during the last three years;
- (c) the details of the expenditure incurred on these students during the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise;
- (d) whether ICCR has a special grievance cell for redressal of complaints of these foreign students;
- (e) if   so,   the  details thereof along with the action taken by ICCR on these complaints; and
- (f) whether the Government is planning to make some amendments in this scholarship scheme and planning to open more regional offices and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS [SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN]

(a) i. Indian   Council   for   Cultural   Relations   has   been   engaged   in enhancement of India's cultural profile worldwide through its programmes as teaching of Yoga, Dance, Music and Hindi abroad; sponsoring visits of performing art groups, organizing Indian festivals abroad; hosting foreign cultural groups; organizing/supporting conferences/seminars/workshops in various fields including Indology, Yoga & Ayurveda; supporting Chairs of Indian Studies in various foreign universities for promotion of India studies; offering scholarships to foreign students to study in India; hosting eminent academicians/distinguished visitors in India; promotion of Hindi overseas; gifting of   busts/statues   of   Mahatma   Gandhi   and   other   national   heroes;   exchanging visual art exhibitions; celebration of International Day of Yoga. ICCR carries out these activities with the help of its 38 Cultural Centres, all Indian Missions and Posts overseas and 19 Regional Centres in India.

ii. ICCR's activities are need-based and demand driven depending on (a) Missions' annual action plan and priorities indicated by Heads of Missions and (b) specific directives given by Ministry of External Affairs.  Some of the important activities and events carried out in recent years include: World Sanskrit Award given to the nationals of Thailand, USA & Canada; Distinguished Indologist Award to the citizens of China & Japan; and Distinguished Alumni Award given to 22 ICCR alumni. ICCR hosted  Guangzhou Ballet from China, Battery Dance from USA, Africa   Festival   and   Russian   Cultural   Festival   among   others.   Celebrated

Singhast Mahakumbh Mela in Ujjain during 2016-17 and coordinated visit of 186 delegates of different countries to witness Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj during 201819.  Special efforts were made to sponsor cultural groups from North East Region of India overseas. Details of other activities in last three years are at Annexure 'I'.

- (b)  The detail of the number of foreign students studying in Indian Universities on scholarship provided by ICCR, at present, State / UT-wise during last three years is at  Annexure 'II'.
- (c)       Details of expenditure incurred on these students during the last three years State/ UT-wise are at Annexure 'III'.
- (d)   Yes. The grievances of foreign students are under supervision of Director General, ICCR.
- (e) As and when the grievance is received, urgent redressal under intimation to the complainant is done on priority. At present there is no grievance pending.
- (f) The amendments are made to the scholarship schemes from time to time on the basis of feedback received from various sources.  There is no proposal as of now to open new Regional Offices.

***

## ANNEXURE -I

## Details of activities during the last three years 2016-2019

|   S.N . | Activities                                                                                                 |   2016-17 |   2017-18 |   2018-19 |
|---------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|       1 | Number of MoUs supporting chairs of Indian studies in various foreign universities                         |        74 |        79 |        66 |
|       2 | Number of eminent academicians/ distinguished visitors hosted by ICCR                                      |        14 |        17 |        14 |
|       3 | Number of bronze bust/ statues of national heroes gifted                                                   |        11 |         7 |        13 |
|       4 | Number of countries to which financial assistance provided for celebration of International Day of Yoga    |       120 |       128 |       172 |
|       5 | Number of foreign groups hosted for cultural programmes in various states of India                         |        53 |        66 |        54 |
|       6 | Number of groups sponsored to participate in various prestigious International Festivals and Events abroad |       166 |       175 |       118 |
|       7 | Number of Exhibitions organised abroad                                                                     |        20 |         7 |         8 |
|       8 | Number of Exhibitions hosted in India                                                                      |         2 |        11 |         4 |

## State/UT-wise Details of No. of Students

| S. N.   | Regional Offices ICCR   | State/Union Territory                                                    | No. of Students   | No. of Students   | No. of Students   | No. of Students        |
|---------|-------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|------------------------|
|         |                         |                                                                          | 2016-17           | 2017-18           | 2018- 19          | 2019-20 till Dec. 2020 |
| 1       | Hyderabad               | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana                                                | 1294              | 1194              | 1000              | 878                    |
| 2       | Guwahati                | Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh | 85                | 89                | 73                | 95                     |
| 3       | Shillong                |                                                                          | 79                | 94                | 47                | 36                     |
| 4       | Patna                   | Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand                                           | 4                 | 11                | 14                | 24                     |
| 5       | Delhi (HQ.              | Delhi NCR, Haryana, Uttarakhand                                          | 471               | 369               | 424               | 475                    |
| 6       | Goa                     | Goa                                                                      | 124               | 236               | 225               | 290                    |
| 7       | Ahmedabad               | Gujarat                                                                  | 844               | 778               | 690               | 662                    |
| 8       | Jammu                   | Jammu and Kashmir                                                        | 3                 | 1                 | 4                 | 7                      |
| 9       | Bengaluru               | Karnataka                                                                | 1287              | 1235              | 963               | 673                    |
| 10      | Trivandrum              | Kerala                                                                   | 115               | 118               | 116               | 160                    |
| 11      | Bhopal                  | Madhya Pradesh                                                           | 122               | 113               | 94                | 57                     |
| 12      | Mumbai                  | Maharashtra                                                              | 65                | 113               | 138               | 193                    |

## ANNEXURE -II

| 13   | Pune         |                          |   1003 |   759 |   774 |   1039 |
|------|--------------|--------------------------|--------|-------|-------|--------|
| 14   | Bhubaneshwar | Odisha                   |     67 |    69 |   102 |    150 |
| 15   | Chandigarh   | Punjab, Himachal Pradesh |    464 |   442 |   416 |    377 |
| 16   | Jaipur       | Rajasthan                |     47 |    48 |    55 |     66 |
| 17   | Chennai      | Tamil Nadu               |     77 |   102 |   156 |    193 |
| 18   | Varanasi     | Uttar Pradesh            |     70 |    74 |    50 |     56 |
| 19   | Lucknow      |                          |    129 |   121 |   143 |    112 |
| 20   | Kolkata      | West Bengal, Sikkim      |    219 |   258 |   309 |    372 |
|      |              | Total                    |   6569 |  6224 |  5793 |   5915 |

## State/UT-wise Details of Expenditure

***

## ANNEXURE -III

| S.   | Regional Offices   | State/Union                                                              | Year-wise Expenditure   | Year-wise Expenditure   | Year-wise Expenditure   | Year-wise Expenditure       |
|------|--------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-----------------------------|
| N.   | ICCR               | Territory                                                                | 2016-17                 | 2017-18                 | 2018-19                 | 2019-20 till December, 2020 |
| 1    | Hyderabad          | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana                                                | 325039565               | 293045771               | 304626756               | 212779172                   |
| 2    | Guwahati           | Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh | 17993051                | 18608562                | 22569959                | 19078499                    |
| 3    | Shillong           |                                                                          | 12296171                | 15921522                | 17209308                | 9100874                     |
| 4    | Patna              | Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand                                           | 868785                  | 2232811                 | 2109147                 | 5877364                     |
| 5    | HQRS               | Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand                                              | 96854762                | 120372390               | 221365554               | 155364737                   |
| 6    | Goa                | Goa                                                                      | 19458489                | 34822541                | 49381219                | 55583588                    |
| 7    | Ahmedabad          | Gujarat                                                                  | 177061818               | 160469320               | 184867570               | 100393227                   |
| 8    | Jammu              | Jammu and Kashmir                                                        | 485740                  | 175500                  | 355002                  | 1153650                     |
| 9    | Bengaluru          | Karnataka                                                                | 281880571               | 245178738               | 323566407               | 219680871                   |
| 10   | Trivandrum         | Kerala                                                                   | 25343827                | 26442283                | 41453785                | 40792737                    |
| 11   | Bhopal             | Madhya Pradesh                                                           | 30163819                | 28005920                | 30718282                | 9127404                     |
| 12   | Mumbai             | Maharashtra                                                              | 11133022                | 12447744                | 34712160                | 36590001                    |
| 13   | Pune               |                                                                          | 140224607               | 107052267               | 180413076               | 131922583                   |
| 14   | Bhubaneshw ar      | Odisha                                                                   | 15460696                | 11436665                | 31408396                | 34551960                    |
| 15   | Chandigarh         | Punjab, Himachal Pradesh                                                 | 75374615                | 77948526                | 100797773               | 105523145                   |
| 16   | Jaipur             | Rajasthan                                                                | 14923255                | 14073098                | 18162046                | 14631446                    |
| 17   | Chennai            | Tamil Nadu                                                               | 19836132                | 16127475                | 70717098                | 34533530                    |
| 18   | Varanasi           | Uttar Pradesh                                                            | 20929673                | 9517114                 | 11658018                | 13579777                    |
| 19   | Lucknow            |                                                                          | 10322641                | 23264910                | 35319771                | 37990904                    |
| 20   | Kolkata            | West Bengal, Sikkim                                                      | 37778947                | 40823903                | 72900476                | 71943758                    |
|      |                    | Total                                                                    | 1333430186              | 1257967060              | 1754311803              | 1310199227                  |