Facts for Prelims (FFP)
Source: TH
Context: Ministry of Culture has been documenting the unique cultural heritage of rural India under the National Mission for Cultural Mapping’s ‘Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar’ program.
Villages have been divided into different categories e.g.,
| Category | Example |
| Ecological | Bishnoi village (famous for living in harmony with Blackbucks, Rajasthan); Uttarakhand’s Raini village (famous for the Chipko movement) |
| Developmental | Modhera (Gujarat) is the first solar-powered village in India
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| Historical | Kandel (MP) is famous for ‘Jal Satyagraha’; Suketi in Himachal Pradesh has Asia’s oldest fossil park; and Pandrethan in Kashmir is the village of Shaivite mystic Lal Ded |
About National Mission on Cultural Mapping (NMCM):
| Description | |
| Ministry | Approved by the Ministry of Culture in 2017 |
| Purpose | To build a comprehensive database of artists, art forms, and other cultural resources from organizations. To preserve Indian art and cultural heritage, map the cultural canvas of India, and create cultural vibrancy throughout the nation. |
| Implementation | The program was handed over to Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) in 2021. |
| Target | IGNCA plans to cover all 6.5 lakh villages in the country and create short films on 6,500 village clusters showcasing their unique heritage. |
| Data Collection | Data mapping, demography building, formalizing processes, and bringing all cultural activities under one umbrella for better results. |
| Related Schemes | Kala Sanskriti Vikas Yojana, Scheme for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage, and Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat. |
| About IGNCA | Established in 1987 as an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Culture. Aims to be a centre for research, academic pursuit, and dissemination in the field of arts. |
Note: Don’t get confused with a similarly named programme—’ Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav’ is an initiative of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to encourage scientists to select villages and provide information to the farmers on technical and other related aspects of agriculture through personal visits or on the telephone.
