Noted mridangam artiste and former Astana Vidwan of State Government Yella Venkateswara Rao has alleged that the State Government was ignoring arts and culture.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Mr. Rao said that fine arts have taken a back seat in the recent past with no patronage from the government. A sordid state of affairs was prevailing in the music colleges. The government has not filled up vacant posts. About 50 to 60 posts were lying vacant in 14 music colleges across the State, and release of necessary budgetary support is needed.
The Potti Sriramlu Telugu University has failed to meet the expectations. It neither served the academics nor supported the arts as academies did, he said.
Music colleges
The government has not established music colleges in every district as planned earlier. There were no music colleges in Adilabad, Mahabubnagar, Srikakulam, Chittor, Kadapa, Anantapur and Visakhapatnam etc. Many of the central government schemes such as construction of auditoriums to encourage arts were not being utilised properly as there were no academies.
The government should revive the five academies -- sangeeta, nataka, nritya, lalita, and sahitya -- to rejuvenate culture and arts, he said.
The government was indifferent to the plight of aged artists. The identity cards were issued long back, and were not renewed subsequently.
