Rs.5 lakh grant for organisations commemorating Tagore’s birth

NEW DELHI - The ministry of culture Friday announced a scheme to provide financial assistance up to Rs.5 lakh for cultural programmes by not-for-profit organisations to commemorate 150 years of Rabindranath Tagore’s birth.

The “Tagore Commemoration Grant Scheme (TCGS)” will assist and support programmes related to appropriate and befitting commemoration of the multi-faceted genius of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore and his enduring contribution through lectures, seminars, workshops, symposia, cultural shows, literary festivals, exhibitions, small documentary films and audio-video presentations.

All eligible NPOs working for the promotion of art and culture are eligible for the grant, a statement released by the culture ministry said.

The government’s assistance will be limited to 75 percent of the estimated cost of the programme with a ceiling of Rs.5 lakh. The scheme will remain operational till May 2012.

The applications can be sent to convenors of the eight zonal Tagore Commemoration Committees with offices at Kolkata, Guwahati, Allahabad, Delhi, Chandigarh, Udaipur, Mumbai and Chennai. The proposals will be evaluated by a panel of experts and their decision will be final.

The ministry introduced the financial aid package after the national committee under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a national implementation committee under the union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee constituted to celebrate Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary advised the culture ministry to support initiatives by private organisations.