On the sidelines of the Onam festival and the tourism department’s weeklong celebrations, HT caught up with PC Vishnunadh, the state tourism and culture minister, to talk about the challenges and positives in both sectors. Excerpts:
It’s the first annual Onam celebrations under the new UDF government. What’s new this time compared to previous years?
Onam is the best time for tourists to visit Kerala. That’s the message we want to send. We conducted a strong campaign, especially on social media. On Aug 22, we had the Nehru Trophy snakeboat race. On Aug 30, we will have the Aranmula snakeboat race. For those wanting to see a glimpse of Pulikkali and Kummattikali, they can head to Thrissur. Travellers can taste the unique ‘vallasadya’ (a kind of traditional feast) in Aranmula during this period. This time, during the week-long festival in Trivandrum, we are hosting Kerala’s own art forms like Theyyam, Padayani and Tholpavakuthu, apart from music and dance performances. We have over 8,000 artists performing at various venues across the state. In Trivandrum alone, we have 3,000 artists at over 35 venues.
This year’s theme song for Onam has been sung by you and has picked up over a million views. How did that happen?
{{/usCountry}}This year’s theme song for Onam has been sung by you and has picked up over a million views. How did that happen?
{{/usCountry}}Some friends of mine suggested creating a special song and video for Onam. They suggested that I sing it. I politely declined. But they insisted me and said that the lyrics were by BK Harinarayanan and music by Jakes Bejoy. When I heard that, I thought I could give it a try. Both are world-class artists. The visualisation was by Dijo Jose Antony. I sang and I’m happy I could be a part of it.
Could you list out the challenges related to the two departments you’re in charge of – culture and tourism – since you took over in May?
The challenges are basic. For example, several of our high-profile destinations lack proper toilet facilities like Kovalam beach, Munnar, Alappuzha houseboat terminal and Fort Kochi. It can have a negative effect on travellers and harm all our marketing efforts. The second challenge is the absence of proper lighting at these destinations. Travellers should be able to come out and walk safely. Then there are specific issues. For example at Munnar, there are no proper parking facilities. This leads to a five-hour-long traffic jam in peak season. There is a paucity of land there. To address these challenges, we will be appointing ‘green marshals’ — a volunteer force to take care of destinations. They will be given proper training and clean uniforms to stand out. In the culture department, the situation is dire. There are only 27 staff at the culture directorate to manage all the culture-related initiatives across the state. We don’t even have a proper permanent office. They are working out of an old ramshackle building. We don’t have district or regional offices of the culture department. The goal is to lend a sense of form to the system and strengthen our institutions. We have announced that both tourism and cinema fields will be given ‘industry’ status. It will help both sectors grow. The other big-ticket projects are a film city named after JC Daniel in Kochi, a cultural park in the name of MT Vasudevan Nair and a permanent venue for the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK). There is financial distress, our budgetary support is low. But we will have to find CSR funding.
Kochi-Munnar-Alappuzha circuit continues to bring substantial tourists, whereas other destinations, especially in north Kerala, remain under-utilised. What do you plan to do about this?
The destinations on the Kochi - Munnar – Alappuzha route are beyond their carrying capacities. My perspective is that we have to look beyond just adding more destinations to attract travellers. For example, Korea is attracting tourists using its culture such as Korean dramas and music. In Kerala, we have Ayurveda and we are the home of authentic Ayurveda practices. A traveller coming here for Ayurveda treatment can also get a glimpse of our monsoon, our cultural practices, our food etc. That’s the experience we offer. Another strength is our medical value tourism. We also offer big scope for adventure tourism. The unique aspect about Kerala is that a traveller can experience forests, backwaters and the sea in the span of an hour. And we plan to integrate our culture with the annual tourism calendar. We will soon be giving training to homestay owners to better amplify their facilities. That way, at the grassroots level, the local economy will keep running.
The previous LDF government drafted a cinema policy with several recommendations on labour practices, film archiving, minimum wages etc. Will your government revise the policy?
Some changes will have to be made. The policy is recommendatory in nature and does not sound out firm decisions. It was a good exercise, but the recommendations need to translate into actual decisions. The remuneration of junior artists and technicians is very low. Lyricists in Malayalam cinema are among the less paid artists. But in other industries like Tamil cinema, they get decent pay. We will have to hold talks with organisations and find some solutions.
The Justice Hema panel report had made several recommendations for women safety, but were hardly implemented by the previous government. Will you do it?
Certainly, we will examine the suggestions and take necessary steps.
Film actors’ body AMMA is going through a major internal crisis. Will the government intervene to sort out issues within it?
Right now, it’s an internal issue. For the government to interfere in its functioning is a moral and legal wrangle. But if there is a police complaint or an issue that the culture department has to address, we will step in. But we don’t want to get into their internal power struggles.
With IFFK scheduled in December, the Kerala Chalachitra Akademi still doesn’t have a chairperson. Why is that?
The appointment will happen soon, but it will not affect the preparatory works for IFFK. As minister, I am doing regular follow-ups. The entries for films have already started coming in. The deadline is September 10. Only after the deadline ends can the jury view the films and decide on them. The IFFK will happen from Dec 11 - 18. From Sept 25-30, we will hold the international documentary film festival. There were 1700 entries and four categories of juries. We have 42 institutions for which new administration panels will soon take charge.