April 20, 2014

West Bengal's Second Renaissance

Samprati Motghare
IIM graduate, Batch of 2014


The cultural heritage of West Bengal is one of the richest across the globe. The sanctity of Hooghly, the beauty of Eastern Himalayas, the diversity of Sunderbans and the freshness of the Tea Gardens, all blend together to constitute the unique culture of West Bengal.

The land of many legends, it gave the nation its National Anthem and National Song. It has always proved to be a place with a perfect blend of traditions and modernity.  But somewhere after the independence, it lost its place as a cultural leader and a thought provoker. The new government in the state wants to reclaim the lost glory.


Remembering the Titans

Tagore’s ideas for people: Various literary works of Swami Rabindranath Tagore have been compiled in 17 volumes and 7 of those volumes have already been published and made available to public.

Ceremonies: 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Swami Vivekananda and Dwijendralal Roy were organized at a large scale. Chetna Utsav was celebrated in each district of the state to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. Birth anniversaries of Kazi Nazrul Islam and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (first time ever in Darjeeling) were observed throughout the state. Tributes to around 200 great personalities have been paid through various functions held at the State Secretariat.

New Academies: Paschimbanga Kazi Nazrul Academy, Rajbanshi Bhasha Academy, Birsa Munda Academy and Hindi Academy have been formed in order to preserve and extend the languages and cultures of different ethnic groups of the state.

Re-construction in Technicians’ studio: 6 floors have been re-constructed in Technicians’ studio and have been named in the honour of Satyaijit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Tapan Sinha, Uttam Kumar, Suchitra Sen and Rituparno Ghosh.


Promoting film and television

Film festivals: Kolkata International Film Festival received the support of West Bengal government to scale greater heights and for the first time ever a Children’s Film festival was also organized at the state level.

Film cities: For the first time in two comprehensive film cities are being constructed at Dabgram in Jalpaiguri and Baruipur in South 24 Paraganas.

Tele Academy: To develop television industry, first Tele Academy of the state has been formed. 90 eminent TV personalities have been awarded by Tele Samman award.


Support to artistes

Revitalizing folk artistes: 10,000 folk artistes have been identified and were provided financial support to develop and preserve folk culture of the state. Social messages were propagated through folk artistes about Child Marriage, Dowry problem and Kanyashree scheme etc.

Health cover: Close to 10,000 artistes and technicians, along with their families, from cinema and television industries have been brought under health insurance cover.

Pension scheme: A new scheme to provide social security to cultural personalities has been started and close to 150 have already availed this pension facility.


Preserving heritage and protecting creativity

Renovation: 32 Rabindra Bhabans and many heritage sites like University Institute Hall, Mahajati Sadan etc. are being renovated. Reconstruction of Nazrul Mancha has been completed.

Digitization of art work: Manuscripts and letters of eminent authors of Bengal have been completed by the government to preserve their heritage for years to come. Digitization of music, cinema, paintings and other art works is currently in progress.

New laws: Audio and video piracy act has been brought into force in the state to stop piracy and promote creativity and innovation. Also, Urdu, Hindi, Oriya, Santhali and Punjabi languages have been enlisted as official languages to promote these languages in the state.


West Bengal won the first prize for its tableau in this year’s Republic Day parade for depicting its folk culture through Chhau dance. Some artifacts belonging to Gupta period have been discovered in Medinipur. Around 350 artistes have been awarded by the state government across various fields of cultural spectrum. Other states could take out a leaf out of West Bengal’s book to promote their artistes and cultural heritage.