The Samikshya Bureau
BHUBANESWAR: Much to the cheers of the artisans and connoisseurs of art and crafts, State Institute for Development of Arts and Crafts (SIDAC) has been accorded the coveted Centre of Excellence(CoE) status by the Central Government.
SIDAC is India’s first institute of its kind in imparting non-technical training.
Established in 2004 as a state government sponsored institution registered under the Societies Registration Act, it has been visualised as an autonomous agency for the development of handicrafts sector of the state that boasts a wide range of craft traditions.
The organisation is managed through a governing body headed by the Commissioner cum Secretary to Government of Odisha.
SIDAC has developed syllabus for the craft courses and standardised it by implementing the training programmes for more than 10 years.
It has established Kalabhoomi, the state-of-the-art museum of handicrafts and handloom in Bhubaneswar that has emerged as a major attraction for tourists and researchers on Odisha culture alike.
While granting the CoE status, The Union Government has observed that “an organization of the nature and standing of SIDAC has an important role to play in training activity in the informal and non-traditional skilling sector as well as for the training, practice and preservation of rare and dying arts and crafts of the State”.
It has further contributed to wider proliferation of its activities and benefit to the skilling eco-system.
This will have positive spin offs in the form of sharing of best practices with similar institutions in the country as well as mobilization of global best practices for preservation of rare art and crafts forms, the Central Government observers have added.
