Angul: After a gap of nine months, the government gave its nod to resume organising of cultural programmes. But this announcement has hardly brought any joy to the organisers and artistes.
Their unhappiness lies in the guideline issued by the government. The guideline says that cultural programmes can be held with only 200 audience capacity. Auditoriums where these programmes would be held should function with only 50 per cent of their capacity. And in case of organising opera shows, permission from the district administration is a must.
The associations of organisers and artistes have demanded that they should be allowed to hold their programmes with at least 500 attendees.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has rendered as many as 32, 000 artistes in Angul district jobless. They had been waiting for the day when the government would allow them to hold cultural programmes. Finally the government’s announcement came in this regard but it offered no joy.
There are about 50 registered cultural organizations in the district. Of them, 15 or so are such organizations that hold cultural festivals in different parts of the district. If a play is staged or a musical night is organised, the number of artistes alone will cross 50. In that case, how such cultural programmes can be held with only 150 onlookers, some artistes asked.
“Organising a cultural event with such a small audience can never be feasible from a commercial point of view. We can’t even increase the ticket price. We are also not able to get financers during these days as we used to get earlier. So the government should think over it and increase the audience capacity,” observed Bhupesh Chandra Pradhan, Chairman, District Artistes’ Association.
Echoing the same, Sudhansu Mohan Dwibedy, Chairman, Natyam, said, “We have been organising theatre festivals for last 28 years. For a play, there should be at least 500 people in the auditorium. We are also in doubt regarding getting teams and artistes from outside. Organising theatre festival or staging a play is not possible as long as the situation changes for the better or the government increases the number of attendees.”
Expressing his dissatisfaction over the government’s decision, Akshay Kumar Nath, president, Sur Taal, said, “Even though the government has granted permission to stage or organise cultural events, it does not do any good to help the artistes overcome the financial crisis. The government should reconsider this.”
At the same time, it is also feared that the Angul district festival (Zilla Mahotsav) may also get affected due to prevailing COVID-19 fear.
The festival is held April 1 every year. In 2019, the festival was preponed due to general election. The festival features cultural programmes and Pallishree Mela that receive a huge footfall. But people are not sure if the district administration will hold the festival this year or not.
When asked, Angul District Collector Sidddharth Shankar Swain said, “It is hoped that new guidelines will come in the future and then we will decide about holding the Zilla Mahotsav accordingly.”
PNN