The Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) has taken a series of steps to revitalise the social institutions in North-Eastern states which try to settle disputes using customary law.

“Steps are undertaken in close coordination with the local NGOs, village elders, University departments and local scholars,” K K Chakrabarty, Member Secretary, IGNCA informed.

There are about 600 social institutions including self-governance institutions run by village elders in the region. These institutions try to settle the disputes using customary laws which are now being documented by the IGNCA.

“We are getting support of the locals as they are participating actively in our programmes to safeguard the tangible and intangible cultural resources including the human heritage of the region,” said Chakrabarty.

Till now the IGNCA has documented 23 tribes and about 1,000 rare books and 330 ethnographic items were obtained.

“Our attempt is to explore further collaborative activities with the government to appreciate and develop culture as a constitutive element in development in consultation with locals. We are organising workshops in the area to know the people’s perception of culture and their intervention for preservation, promotion and documentation of cultural heritage,” said Chakrabarty.

The IGNCA has set up a task force under the chairmanship of Prof N K Roy Burman to promote heritage in the North East, coordinate and conduct in-depth studies in the bio-cultural practices of diverse ethnic groups and communities in India and for their documentation, research, conservation, validation, revitalisation and dissemination.

A survey is being conducted in Sikkim to collect information on the bio-cultural diversity, with focus on community knowledge in medicinal plants.

“We are meeting Lamas and nuns of various monasteries in the region to know their point of view and priority areas. This will help us in evaluating the status of monasteries, their museums, libraries, architecture and art to initiate documentation and conservation with them, Chakrabarty said.

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