New culture policy to focus on eternal values

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">NEW DELHI: Taking a leaf out of HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi''s swadeshi ways, Culture Minister Jagmohan wants to pay maximum attention to the country''s eternal values while finalising the new cultural policy. <br />Hence, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">karmayoga</span> (work), <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">tyaga</span> (renunciation), <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">tapasya</span> (meditation) and compassion will form the core of the new policy.<br />Though the final shape of the policy will be finetuned after a national meeting in September, Jagmohan has already decided that "the four eternal values should be the soul of the policy".<br />According to Jagmohan, a recent seminar in Hyderabad on the issue, met with an enthusiastic response.He said, "I am clear on what the policy should consist of. The new cultural policy being envisaged by the government will attempt to reconstruct India''s healthy past, project the country''s elevated image, stress on eternal values that have helped the Indian civilisation to stay afloat and make Indian arts more creative."<br />Jagmohan said, "We should not forget that unlike other classical civilisations, which perished in due course, Indian civilisation continues because of these values."<br />Another integral element of the policy, said Jagmohan, would be to revive India''s traditional image which had taken a beating in recent years. <br />"To the outside world, we should be able to present ourselves as a country with an ancient past. What flows underneath our diversified cultural stream needs to be highlighted," Jagmohan said.<br />Religion is, of course, an important area of culture, felt the minister. "But we need to give a clean image of our religious heritage," he stressed.<br />But how will a policy make Indian culture a better one? <br />Admitting the limitations of any policy relating to culture, Jagmohan was confident of achieving his objectives without causing any flutter. The last time the government attempted to evolve a cultural policy was in 1986 but it never saw the light of the day. </div> </div>