Art and culture dept to finalise film devpt policy

Patna: The state government on Monday decided to make the Art, Culture and Youth department the nodal authority for finalizing the new film development and promotion policy of Bihar. Earlier, the task was assigned to state tourism department.
Now the Art, Culture and Youth department will be the sole authority for finalizing the new film development and promotion policy for the state after consulting all stakeholders.After finalization of the new policy, the same will be sent to the state cabinet for its approval.
The decision to this effect was taken in a meeting chaired by chief secretary Amir Subhani on Monday and attended by S Siddharth (additional chief secretary, finance), Bandana Preyashi (secretary, Art, Culture and Youth department) and Kanwal Tanuj (additional secretary, tourism).
The Bihar State Film Development and Finance Corporation Limited (a wing of the Art, Culture and Youth department) will soon begin the exercise of finalizing the new film policy. Chief minister Nitish Kumar had recently expressed his displeasure over the delay in finalization of the new film promotion policy of the state.
“Now the task of finalizing the new film development and promotion policy of the state has been assigned to us. The department will draft the new policy with the aim to create an amiable atmosphere that not only would facilitate film shooting at a large scale in Bihar, but also ensure all round development of activities related to various aspects of film production,” said Bandana.
The new policy will also provide an opportunity to the talents of the state in all departments of film-making, she said, adding it will generate opportunities for employment in the state besides attracting additional capital investment through film industry. “We will soon finalize the draft policy after consultation with all stakeholders,” she added.
“Provision will be made for the creation of Film Development Fund for financing schemes for development of films and film related infrastructure in the state in the new policy. The state government will promote creation of infrastructure required for making films,” said Bandana.
A film facilitation unit will be created that will work as single-window mechanism for granting all permissions relating to shooting for films in Bihar under one roof in a time-bound manner, she said. PTI