Bhubaneswar: To promote Odia literature among school students, Odia Language, Literature and Culture Department ACS Satyabrata Sahu has asked District Culture Officers (DCOs) to organise Sahitya Sampan programme among the students of Class IX to XII from next year.
Mr. Sahu gave this direction to all DCOs while chairing a high-level meeting with them here on virtual mode on Thursday.
The State Government is giving almost emphasis to the promotion of Odia art, literature and culture. District Cultural Officers have played an important role in this regard, he said.
The Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) asked the DCOs to hold the Sahitya Sampan programme from January to March, next year.
Sources that the target was set to include 50,000 beneficiaries under the Mukhyamantri Kalakar Sahayata Yojana (MKSY), of which over 34,000 beneficiaries are now receiving assistance through their bank accounts.
Therefore, Mr. Sahu directed the Culture Officers to identify the eligible beneficiaries for MMSY and sent it to the Department by the end of this month.
In the meeting, the names of the beneficiaries under the Chief Minister’s Artist Support Scheme, which is being implemented for the welfare of artists, have been ordered to be selected and sent to the Department soon by the end of this month.
He also issued necessary directions to the officials to participate in district level festivals, involvement of local folk artists in different Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities of the State Government with the support of district administration and implementation of Computerized Cultural Team Management (CTMS) system in the Department.
In the meeting, the Additional Chief Secretary of the department gave necessary instructions and suggestions to the cultural officers to work with responsibility and determination.
It was informed in the meeting that the registration of new cultural groups who are eligible but could not register their name in CTMS for any reason will be done between March 1 and 31.
In order to expedite the work of under-construction cultural buildings in various districts, cultural officials have been instructed to visit the construction site once in a week.
They have also been directed to visit 217 protected heritage monuments in the State and give necessary suggestions for further protection and beautification of the monuments. The DCOs will also have to ensure that the books have reached various public libraries across the State.
Similarly, the CAS has also asked the DCOs to identify places to install the statues of eminent personalities in various districts, garlanding of the statues on Birth and Death anniversaries and holding regular meetings regarding the progress of construction of Manmath-Manoj (Baleshwar District) monument.
The concerned district cultural officer has been instructed to visit Suando village, the birthplace of Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das, and supervise its developmental work.
It was discussed in the meeting to organize a screening of the “Daman” movie, which is based on the malaria eradication programme of the State Government, during non-official working hours.
In the meeting, all the senior officers of the Department including Ranjan Kumar Das, the Director of Culture, were present and participated in the discussion.