Lok Sabha Question No. 1198 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-08
Subject: Promotion of Indian Art and Culture
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: Shri Nilesh Dnyandev Lanke, Shri Gyaneshwar Patil, Dr. Shivaji Bandappa Kalge, Shri Bhumare Sandipanrao Asaram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †1198 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.12.2025

## PROMOTION OF INDIAN ART AND CULURE

- †1198. Shri Nilesh Dnyandev Lanke: Shri Gyaneshwar Patil: Dr. Shivaji Bandappa Kalge: Shri Bhumare Sandipanrao Asaram:

Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to s tate:

- (a) whether the Government is implementing any special policy to promote Indian culture as soft power to achieve the target of making India a developed nation by the year 2047, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government is formulating a plan to showcase Indian art, craft, music  and yoga emphatically on global forum, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government is planning to widely use digital means and social media to promote cultural heritage, if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)  whether the  Government is taking any steps to promote traditional  knowledge and  culture based curriculum in Indian universities, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF CULTURE AND TOURISM (SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

(a) & (b )  Ministry of Culture implements 'Global Engagement Scheme" to promote India's rich cultural  heritage  internationally,  strengthening  cultural  ties  with  foreign  nations,  promoting bilateral cultural contacts, projecting India's cultural identity on the world stage and encouraging inbound tourism and enhance India's global image.

The Global Engagement Scheme is administered through Indian Missions abroad to achieve its objective through following components:

## I) Festival of India:

The artists from diverse cultural fields such as Folk Art including Folk Music, Folk Dance, Folk Theatre  &  Puppetry,  Classical  and  Traditional  Dance,  Experimental/Contemporary  Dance, Classical/Semi Classical Music, Theatre etc. are given opportunity to perform abroad under the banner of 'Festival of India'.

## II) Grant in aid to Indo Foreign Friendship Cultural Societies:

Grant  in  aid  is  released  to  Indo  Foreign  Friendship  Cultural  Societies  actively  functioning  in foreign counties through our Indian Missions with the object of fostering closer friendship and cultural contacts between India and foreign country concerned.

Ministry of Culture, Government of India also sign Cultural Exchange Programmes (CEPs) with other countries for disseminating Indian art and culture abroad to promote India's soft power and for  developing  and  promoting  inter-cultural  relations  between  India  and  other  countries  in different areas of arts and culture.

In  addition,  Indian  Council  of  Cultural  Relations  (ICCR),  an  autonomous  organization  under Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), has been implementing many initiatives such as Gen-Next Democracy Network Programme; ICCR ki Khoj; Padma Awardee Series; ICCR 'Yuva Mitra' and 'Kala Saadhak' Prizes; Annapurna Certificate and Pratibha Sangam Competition to promote Indian culture as soft power to achieve the goal of making India a developed nation by 2047.

As per its mandate, ICCR is promoting Indian culture worldwide through its cultural centres and teaching of Yoga, Dance, Music (vocal

Missions/Posts abroad by conducting activities inter-alia, and instrumental) and languages.

(c) & (d) Ministry of Culture leverages social media handles including Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin etc. to amplify India's soft power and to promote cultural diplomacy on a global scale. The Ministry also manages the official website of Ministry of Culture, which serves as a one-stop destination for all information related to Ministry's activities and initiatives.

In addition, ICCR has developed (i) AIMS (Activity Information Management System) Portal to centralize and streamline its global operations, facilitating seamless coordination between ICCR, Indian Cultural Centres and Indian missions/posts worldwide: (ii) A2A (Admission 2 Alumni) Portal   for  simplifying  the  application  and  admission  process  for  foreign  students  aspiring  to study in India;  (iii) Gyan Setu application aiming to streamline and to automate the release of scholarship dues to students and universities.  (iv) ICCR also maintains  information of Indian artistes engaged by ICCR through Artists Management System (AMS).

ICCR launched an online platform "Universalization of Traditional Indian Knowledge Systems (UTIKS)" for specialized courses on Traditional Indian Knowledge as a single window source  of  an  introductory  knowledge  on  Indian  culture, ancient  Indian  texts  etc.  ICCR  also organizes International Yoga Conference and International Indologoy Conference.

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