National Mission on Cultural Mapping (NMCM)

National Mission on Cultural Mapping (NMCM)- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 1: Indian History- Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
GS Paper 2: Governance, Administration and Challenges- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Recently, the government handed over the ‘National Mission on Cultural Mapping (NMCM)’ to the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).
- The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) is gearing up for a trial run in 75 villages.

About: National Mission on Cultural Mapping (NMCM) was approved by the Ministry of Culture in 2017. However, the project had been slow to take off.
- It encompasses data mapping, demography building, formalizing the processes and bringing all cultural activities under one umbrella for better results.
Key Objectives: The mission aims to build a comprehensive database of artists, art forms and other resources from organizations under the Ministry.
- IGNCA now aims to create a database for folk arts and mapping of heritage of villages over five years period (since 2017).
- IGNCA aims to ensure complete mapping in 5,000 villages by the end of financial year 2021-2022.
Developed NMCM portal: Ministry informed that around 14.53 lakhs artists/artisans have been registered on NMCM portal through secondary sources State/UT-wise.
- However, no direct benefits or assistance has been extended through this Mission to the registered artists/institution.
Volunteer Participation: Teams of volunteers from the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sanghathan, the National Service Scheme and students of sociology and social work would be deputed to visit villages and collect data on the art forms and heritage of the areas.

About: The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) is an Autonomous Trust set up by the Government of India under the Ministry of Culture. It was set up in 1987.
Mandate: IGNCA is visualised as a centre that encompasses the study and experience of all the arts-each form within its own integrity, yet within a dimension of mutual interdependence, interrelated with nature, social structure and cosmology.
Scope: The term ‘Art’ for IGNCA comprise of-
- The fields of creative and critical literature, written and oral;
- The visual arts, ranging from architecture, sculpture, painting and graphics to general material culture, photography and film;
- The performing arts of music, dance and theatre in their broadest connotation; and
- All else in fairs, festivals and lifestyle have an artistic dimension.