SCZCC headless for a year, unable to keep up with approved programmes

NAGPUR: City’s cultural hub South Central Zone Cultural Centre (SCZCC) has been running without a full-time director for one year, since former director Piyush Kumar completed his term, and this has hampered its operations.
EN Sajid, director of South Cultural Zone, who took additional charge when Kumar left, completed his tenure on Jan 23, 2018. Now, the newly-appointed director of North Central Cultural Zone Inderjeet Grover has is also heading SCZCC.
SCZCC could not conduct 50% of events in 2017 which had been approved by the programming committee. Agni Mahotsav, National Mask Dance and Martial Art Dance in Karnataka, Drums of India event and Kabir Mahotsav in Chhattisgarh, National Folk Theatre Festival in Madhya Pradesh, Sangeet Natya Mahotsav in Maharashtra are some of the events for which could not be conducted though funds were allocated for them.
“A lot of decision making is required on the day-to-day basis for organizing these events. In the absence of a full-time director, time is wasted in writing mails and waiting for replies,” says a project officer.
Regular staff meetings are forums where a lot of ideas and their execution is discussed and decisions are taken on the spot. “We are now working on a WhatsApp group formed for the staff and a lot of ideas are exchanged through e-mails too. But it is difficult to explain execution of cultural events through these mediums,” says another official.
The cultural centre also had to face the ire of craftsmen and artisans who participated in the Orange City Craft Mela this year, for lack of facilities and other related issues. “Decisions like which and how many artists or craftsmen to call are made collectively. But without a director, there was lack of coordination and we could not contact the desired persons on time,” says an official.
The National Exhibition of Contemporary Art, a painting contest which was floated by the centre in 2014 and carried award money of Rs2 lakh could not be held. “An All India Art Contest was being organized since 1986 which was later upgraded. It was organized in 2014 and 2015 and then was to be held in 2017 but we could not do it. In order to utilize the funds earmarked for this contest, we have been holding a series of art exhibitions at Raja Ravi Verma art gallery to provide a platform to artists,” said a source.
The centre’s administrative head Sudarshan Patil said, “We have kept our schedule on track and events are being conducted, though there may not be much hype around them. Having a full-time director helps with fast availability of funds and ease of making payments to artists.” Patil will also complete his term in June this year.