Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): As many as 135 of the 214 repertory companies from the state have been refused grants by the union culture ministry. Of the 214 repertory companies that had applied for renewal of their annual grants, only 79 applications have been approved.
The renewal requests of 83 companies have been rejected, while 52 have been placed on a cooling-off period of three years. This means nearly two-thirds of the drama companies will lose their grants. Even where renewal has been approved, the number of members in repertory companies has been reduced, leading to a cut in salary grants.
The ministry recently notified the list of approved and rejected applications for the fiscal years 2024-25 and 2025-26 under its Guru-Shishya Parampara scheme. The National School of Drama (NSD) is the scheme’s nodal agency. Of the 33 fresh applications from the state, only 13 have been approved.
The decision has caused dismay among theatre artistes in the state. Theatre director Tanaji Rao, whose repertory company’s renewal plea has been rejected, said that even if the decision was taken due to financial constraints, it was unfair and illogical. “How can they just brush aside theatre companies that have been working for years? There is no transparency on why applications have been rejected,” he said.
Director of Naya Theatre Ramchandra Singh said that while their grant was approved, the number of members has been reduced from 20 to 15. “We stage Agra Bazar with 60 artistes. We also have to hire casual artistes for this. Our burden will grow. Grants should increase with time. Instead, they are being reduced. This is very disappointing,” he added.
To register protest before union minister
Theatre directors and artistes in the city are planning to meet the union culture minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in New Delhi to protest against the cuts in grants, delay in announcement and lack of transparency.
