IT News
Imphal, June 3:
Indian border state ‘Manipur’ – known to the world for its rich cultural heritage and magnificent indigenous performing arts of the countless talented people are indeed owed to the sacrifices of talented ‘Gurus’ (Oja), who had and have been sparing no pains to groom young talents to make live the rich culture and traditional arts.
On May 30, this year, team Imphal Times had learnt the present condition of the JNMDA Imphal, after one among our reporter had covered a story on how the academy which cultured the Manipuri’s aesthetic traditions and values besides grooming the young talents.
There were facts to the report and the Imphal Times team, instead of going into the details of what actually has been happening in the Academy filed the stories.
As per the story filed by our reporter, we in team Imphal Times coined the headline – “JNMDA in dire straits ….” published on May 30.
It was verified that the Academy is presently run by an in-charge director and some important posts like the Pradhan Guru, which is also vacant after the earlier retired due to superannuation in February last year.
The report about the appointment of 18 posts on contract basis, that we reported was also true. But the number was later confirmed as 19.
Imphal Times main objective is to make people know what is happening in the country, particularly in the state of Manipur besides exposing the venality of the corrupt politicians or bureaucrats.
In order to dig deeper into the story, another team of Imphal Times under the supervision of the Editorial board investigated the functioning of the JNMDA Imphal.
The team wanted to find out about the functioning of the academy which is being run by an in-charge Director able to organize so much programs for promotion of the arts and culture of the state.
Reports culled from various sources told Imphal Times that, the appointment of a regular director could have been done but as the country, at present is facing emergency situation due to Covid -19 , the government authority is looking for appropriate time. After all, the central government authorities have no worries as they assumed perfect functioning of the academy with the performance of the in-charge director.
When Culture-related institutions or academies across the country are facing a tough time organizing events to promote the culture during this Covid 19 pandemic which started in January 2020. The Jawaharlal Nehru Dance Academy (JNMDA) Imphal, under the supervision of the Director i/c (P. Bilash) organized nearly 20 (twenty) performing events excluding those organized using online classes to reach out to the masses all over the state but also across the globe who wanted to learn about Manipuri art and culture.
A major event which enhances the spirit of the budding and professional artists organized by the JNMDA was the Festival of Moirang organized in collaboration with the Arts and Culture department Government of Manipur at INA Complex Moirang on April 14 and 15 , 2021. The audiences were mesmerized on witnessing the performance of 24 different cultural items.
“For hours, I had forgotten that we are threatened by Covid-19 pandemic”, a local journalist talking to Imphal Times said.
The JNMDA had hosted the Festival of Dance, Drama, Festival of Tribal Dance etc. Within this period of 1 year until the state government announced lockdown in May this year due to the rise of the Pandemic.
