New Delhi: A section of the media has reported that the ‘Ministry of Culture has given the go ahead to the cultural unit of RSS to institute ‘Naimishya Samman’, and a grand extravaganza in the form of ‘Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsava’, will be held in Varanasi next month, to kick start the first edition of the awards’. This news is completely wrong and incorrect. A section of media has published this news without verifying it from the authorized sources of the Ministry of Culture. This has created a lot of confusion in the minds of the stakeholders of Ministry of Culture and general public.
In this context, Ministry of Culture would like to clarify that no proposal has been received from any quarter to introduce awards (referred to as Naimishya Samman in the fields of Peace, Human Rights, Literature, Visual and Performing Arts, Science, Education). It is also clarified that this ministry has not allotted any budget for instituting ‘Naimishya Samman’.
Ministry of Culture would further like to clarify the concept of “Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotasav” (RSM) was conceived by this Ministry in the year of 2015 with an objective to showcase all the aspects of Indian Culture in different areas including, art & crafts, Cuisines, Music and Dance, etc. After the grand success of the First Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav in November-2015, the Ministry successfully organized it again in New Delhi in October 2016 with intent to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the Country in all its rich and varied dimensions. Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav will be held at Varanasi at an estimated budget of Rs. 10 crore, J&K, Arunachal Pradesh and Karnataka at budget estimates of Rs 5 crore each in the current financial year. It is reiterated that Naimishya Samman is not a part of RSM.
