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Govt panel wants Indian culture push in web video games, comics, TV shows
Taking inspiration from Indian epics to develop online video games, starting a “DD Kids” channel to educate children on India’s rich history and culture, launching a “Create in India” campaign for content in vernacular languages, and promoting indigenous comics.
Taking inspiration from Indian epics to develop online video games, starting a “DD Kids” channel to educate children on India’s rich history and culture, launching a “Create in India” campaign for content in vernacular languages, and promoting indigenous comics – these are among the recommendations of a government task force report released on Monday.
The 20-member task force on animation, visual effects, gaming and comic-extended reality (AVGC-XR) was set up by the information and broadcasting ministry in April after Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced it in her Budget speech in February. Headed by I&B secretary Apurva Chandra, it was asked to identify interventions to build domestic capacity to serve the domestic market and meet global demand.
The task force has suggested a national AVGC-XR Mission with a budgetary outlay to boost the sector, and establish the country’s first National Centre of Excellence (NCoE) that would offer degree courses.
“The NCoE is to be established as a nodal agency with focus on education and training standards, benchmarking practices to international standards, carrying out quality assurance across industry, promoting industry access to domestic and international markets and defining various operational frameworks for AVGC industry and academia,” the report said.
The sector could be part of India’s soft power, the committee said, suggesting the creation of original intellectual property and iconic global Indian character brands. “Indian epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata could be used as inspiration to develop online and video games, which could eventually contribute to India’s growth as an AVGC hub,” its report said. “Successful films may be transformed into strategy games through a dedicated mechanism of cooperation between the entertainment and gaming industry.”
“The comic book industry is a well-recognised part of Indian popular culture, having produced many familiar cultural icons like Suppandi, Chacha Chaudhary, Tenali Raman, Detective Moochhwala, Shikkari Shambhu, Mayavi, and Akbar-Birbal,” the report said, adding that a mechanism for promotion of “indigenous comics”, movies and animation ecosystems may be established to build a strong pipeline of ideas for gaming.
It also emphasised that beyond the economic impact, the sector has the potential to make Indian culture accessible to the world, connect the Indian diaspora to India, generate direct and indirect employment and benefit tourism and other allied industries.
There could be a dedicated production fund for domestic content creation from across India to promote Indian culture and heritage globally, it added.
Considering the large children’s population and high television penetration in India, the report recommended that the Centre should create a “DD Kids” channel through the public broadcaster. “There is an opportunity to launch a channel focused on content delivery for children to educate them and raise their awareness on the rich culture, history and traditions of the country… private broadcasters will also be encouraged to take up the activity of developing children-only content,” it said.
“These initiatives, along with several others, would prove to be instrumental in ensuring that content pertaining to India’s rich culture and heritage reaches a wider audience across geographies,” the report stated.
The report pitched for mainstreaming AVGC in education and introduction of courses at both the school and higher education levels. It said the I&B ministry should work with the education ministry and draft a framework for AVGC education in India.
The Media and Entertainment Skills Council, a non-profit organisation, in association with the skill development ministry, has signed agreements with National Council of Educational Research and Training and Central Board of Secondary Education to train over 70,000 school teachers over the next three years in the sector, an official said. “The training will be given to the teachers of the schools that will introduce courses in the AVGC sector,” he said, asking not to be named.
The task force further recommended introducing a curriculum approved by the higher education regulator at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the AVGC sector, with special focus on practical skills, which may be imparted through a mix of in-house training by faculty as well as “mentorship by industry recognised mentors” or professors of practice.
It recommended the formation of a department of creative arts and sciences in universities, and introduction of undergraduate courses in experimental arts, animation, animation and art design, visual effects, graphic design, and digital filmmaking, among others.
The task force also submitted draft policies for the growth of the AVGC-XR sector at the national and state levels.
The information and broadcast ministry, along with the other concerned ministries, will process the implementation of the recommendations in this report, a ministry official said, asking not to be named.
“The draft policies for growth of the AVGC-XR sector, both of the national and state levels, will be key to aid the growth of the media and entertainment industry in general, and the AVGC sector in particular, eventually contributing to India’s growth as an AVGC hub,” he said.
