New Delhi: The issue relating to use of any specific areas of centrally protected monuments or sites across the country for holding “cultural events” has been resolved and the competent authority has approved a slew of guidelines for it, the Parliament was informed Monday.
Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said this in a written response to a query in the Lok Sabha on whether the government has any policy to permit cultural shows at heritage sites.
In his response, the minister shared the list of guidelines, and said, “The issue relating to usage of specific areas of protected monuments/sites for holding cultural events has been resolved and the competent authority has approved the following guidelines for usage of protected areas”.
As a matter of course, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will not like to permit the use of monuments and land attached to such monuments for holding functions/events, reads the guidelines.
“The circles may, however, permit such use only as an exception if the DG, ASI / SA, Circle is fully satisfied that the function/event is unlikely to cause any damage, whatsoever, to the monument, its land and other built structures standing thereon,” ut says.
The circles would accord permission in “only those monuments, which are identified for holding cultural events”. They will also delineate the area or parts of the monument where such events can be held, it said.
The DG, ASI /SA, Circle “may refuse permission” to hold functions in the identified monuments/sites in case the ASI had undertaken recent renovation or beautification works and the holding of such event may interfere with the work, or damage the renovations, the guidelines say.
If a monument is not listed for allowing the holding of cultural events, the DG, ASI may grant such permissions after calling for a report from the SA (superintending archaeologist) concerned. The DG, ASI however reserves the right to disallow any such request. His decision will be final, according to the guidelines shared in the minister’s response.
“Permission can be granted for holding cultural events of a high standard, preferably classical. For this purpose, cultural events would mean classical music, dance and drama. In deciding whether an event is a cultural event or not, the decision of the DG, ASI would be final,” it said.
No permission would be granted for any function event where the admission is regulated by sale of tickets or by levy of admission charges. No permission would be granted for any event which involves any commercial or religious activity like sales, exhibition-cum-sales etc, the guidelines say.
Permission for holding functions would be granted only to government departments and public bodies. No permission would be granted to private individuals, private bodies or other commercial organizations. In deciding whether the requests for holding a function is from a public body or not, the decision of the DG, ASI would be final, it added.
While considering the requests from public bodies, the DG, ASI/SA, Circle would consider the previous history and activities of the organisation the purpose for which the event is being held and the nature and duration of the cultural event.
Permission issued will be valid only for one day except in exceptional cases where for reasons to be recorded, such permissions may extend to more than one day. All temporary structures must be constructed and removed within the same day by 11 pm, it says.
“All function must conclude by 10 pm. No music or loudspeaker etc. Will be allowed thereafter. Any violation will lead to a police complaint by ASI officials,” the guidelines state.
No construction activity of any type will be permitted except for putting up a temporary rostrum or stage, which can be moved away. In putting up such temporary structures there will be no masonry activity, it added.
As the conduct of the event within the monuments or its precincts is likely to cause damage to the built infrastructure and its environs, the ASI would levy charges for usage.
In addition, the ASI would also demand a refundable security deposit of Rs 50000 per day in all monuments in Delhi. In other circles, this refundable security deposit would be Rs 30,000, according to the guidelines.
The ASI would be free to impose appropriate conditions on various aspects like parking, maximum number of visitors, noise and luminous levels etc. To ensure that the monument and its environs are protected and preserved and the conduct of the event would not cause any damage to the monument (physically) or its cultural integrity.
A list of monuments where cultural events could be permitted has been shared along with the guidelines.
In response to a separate query, Reddy said that under ‘Adopt a Heritage’ scheme administered by the Ministry of Tourism, 24 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) have been signed among Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and Monument Mitra for providing facilities and amenities at centrally protected monuments including monuments in the State of Tamil Nadu.
PTI