Guidelines for heritage preservation almost ready

The Ministry of Culture‚ Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) is fine-tuning guidelines on the formation of a body under Intangible Culture Heritage Council.

“The legal advisory section of the ministry is giving finishing touches to the draft‚” said ministry officials of the document that will govern the operation of the body under ICHC.

The National Planning Commission‚ Ministry of Law‚ Justice and Parliamentary Affairs‚ and the Ministry of Finance had recently given their inputs‚ and a go-ahead for the formation of such a body to MoCTCA‚ officials said.

About six months ago‚ MoCTCA had prepared a draft for the formation of such a body through a Cabinet decision. It had then forwarded the draft to NPC‚ law ministry and finance ministry‚ seeking suggestions.

“Once the draft is ready‚ we will write to the Cabinet suggesting proposed names and its go-ahead for the formation of the body‚” said Under-Secretary Jaya Ram Shrestha‚ chief of the Culture and Heritage Section at the MoCTCA.

“We will forward it to the Cabinet once the final draft is ready‚” he added. The nine-member ICHC‚ formed about two years ago for preserving intangible cultural heritage‚ has remained in limbo due to legal hurdles‚ pushing heritage preservation to the backseat.

There are 125 groups and ethnic communities across the country‚ who speak 120 languages‚ according to the MoCTCA. They have their unique traditions and cultures.

The government has formulated a national cultural policy in line with the UNESCO Convention in a bid to preserve and promote these cultures and traditions. According to the MoCTCA‚

the proposed guidelines include standards and policies of the intangible cultural heritage and their preservation as per UNESCO provisions.

In 2010‚ the government had ratified the UN Convention designed to safeguard intangible cultural heritages‚ such as folklore‚ oral traditions‚ social rituals and performing arts. Nepal is the 125th state party to the UNESCO Convention‚ which has committed itself to Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003).

source: the himalayan times,21 August 2013