The government is actively considering giving the Institute of National Importance tag to the National School of Drama, as well as re-developing its campus in Delhi, NSD Society chairman and actor Paresh Rawal said on Saturday.
The former Bharatiya Janata Party MP, who was appointed to the post in September 2020, at a press conference on Saturday “flagged concerns regarding some of the pending issues”, an NSD statement said. He said the status of Institute of National Importance would further strengthen the NSD, allowing it to award degrees, start new courses and set up new centres.
The NSD was in talks with the Centre to expedite the matter and the proposal of redevelopment of the campus was also under active consideration, he said. He added that the redevelopment proposal was discussed at a meeting with Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri last week.
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The NSD, which has four regional centres in Varanasi, Bengaluru, Agartala and Gangtok, had received a request from Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha recently for setting up a centre in J&K, he said. He added that this would be discussed by NSD Society members and the government.
He added that the NSD was planning to digitise its archive of in-house productions and plays to be used as study material or for viewing by the public. He said the NSD would participate in the celebrations of 75 years of Indian Independence.
“On this occasion, NSD is planning to collaborate with various eminent theatre directors in the country to produce 75 plays on the theme of freedom struggle and freedom fighters. The details are being worked out in consultation with Ministry of Culture,” the NSD statement said.
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