Culture ministry to grade artists, writers

For the first time, Culture Ministry has decided to grade the artists and writers for their selection for various events in India and abroad and also to fix their perks like honorarium.
The artists would be graded under three heads - Outstanding (O), Promising (P) and Waiting (W), a Culture Ministry source said.
"There are allegations that there is no transparency in selecting artists for various events. The move will bring transparency in the system. Such ranking will ensure fairness in selecting artists for various events. It will also help government to fix honorarium for artists," he said.
The government plans to have a database of about 1 crore artists in the next four to five years, he said, adding the ranking will be based on a number of parameters including his/her performance, in India and abroad, years of experience and number of awards received.

The grades will be assigned by a high-powered committee, which will comprise officials from Culture Ministry and selected artists.
The committee will periodically meet to decide the grade of the performers. After one performance, an artiste can participate in another official programme only after a gap of two years, the source said, adding this will help in providing opportunity to a large number of artists.

The Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT), an autonomous institution under Culture Ministry, is already engaged in creating a database of artists under various areas including architecture, sculpture, painting, handicrafts, music, dance, theatre, puppetry and literary arts.

The nodal agency has already profiled around 70 lakh artistes and writers, he said, adding there are numerous artists staying in far off villages who do not know about various programmes of the government and the government also does not know about them.
"There is no database of artists in India. This novel idea will help us to know about what level of artists we have in different art categories. It will help frame policies for them," the source added.