Sindh To Be Leading Province In Formulating Culture Police

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Nov, 2016 ) : Sindh Minister for Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Syed Sardar Ali Shah has said that Sindh will be the leading province in formulating Culture policy for the province.

This he said while addressing the concluding session of consultative workshop organized by UNESCO in collaboration with the Culture Department, Government of Sindh with core objectives to discuss a participatory policy design for culture and to raise awareness on the UNESCO 2005 Convention regarding the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions.

The official of provincial government, representatives of UNESCO, civil society, media and academia participated in the workshop, said a statement Tuesday. The Minister said that it is a sad fact that till todate there were no cultural policy in the country or in the province and the department was being run like a ship without rudder.

He said that currently we are working on war footings on every subject of the department but without a proper policy, there is no systemized work. He further said that every department, from education to youth and sports, should have its own policy framework to work, and likewise the Culture and Tourism department will implement the final culture policy drafted through such workshop that is a commendable effort by the UNESCO.

The Minister further said that this is a milestone for the department and we are proud that we are moving towards having an overall policy mechanism for culture, which will soon be presented in the Assembly for its passage as a law.

He said that all forms of cultural expressions are the basic and fundamental right of the persons living in the particular cultural environment. He said that from amongst the participants of this consultative workshop, a working group will be formulated to work further on and developing the culture policy for the province.

He thanked and appreciated the efforts of UNESCO in assisting the culture department for developing the policy. Talking to media after the session, the Minister Culture said that we are going to make documentaries on culture, tourism and archeology, and apart from this we are in contact with different consulates for a variety of cultural exchange programs.

He said that the establishment of an institute of performing arts and music in Jamshoro is in pipeline and an announcement will be made soon in this context. " I am proud of this considerable work on the formation of Culture policy, and when we will meet next we will have the comprehensive policy draft for the onward submission in the assembly", he said.

Earlier the participants of the workshop presented their recommendations for the culture policy. They asserted on an inclusive culture policy combining the literature, music, media/broadcasting, travel and tourism and preservation of language and heritage.

Their recommendations included digitalization of all the paper work, archiving of audio-video record, database management of all the subjects of culture, and Sindhi to be made the national language of the country.