Udhagamandalam: Soon, Ooty will have a 'Resource Centre for Tribal Culture' (RCTC), a first of its kind in the state. With over 6,000 sqft area, the cultural centre, basically meant for tribals in the Nilgiris, will showcase the culture of six primitive tribes. The RCTC, built at the cost of 14.5 crore, will be opened for use within one and half months, according to officials.
With a total population of around 40,000, the tribal communities in the hills comprise six primitive tribes. While, the Todas and Kotas live on the higher altitude of the hills, Kurumbas and Irulas are found in the middle range of the hills. And Paniyas and Kattunayakans inhabit the foot hills of the Nilgiris district.
"A sum of 14.5 crore has been sanctioned from the Hill Area Development Programme (HADP) towards the RCTC project and the work is at the finishing stage," said Srinivas R Reddy, project director, HADP. "It is exclusively to facilitate the tribal communities in the Nilgiris to showcase their culture and tradition," he added.
The RCTC is located on government land, spread across two acres, near the Government Botanical Garden. Originally belonging to the agricultural engineering department, the land has been handed over to the district administration for the purpose.
The auditorium has a seating capacity of 800 seats while 200 can be accommodated in the gallery. The RCTC will chalk out a calendar of tribal programmes scheduled for a month, accordingly. The dates where no programmes are conducted, will be utilised for other government functions on rental basis so as to earn some funds to run the centre, according to Reddy.
"We need to come out with by-laws to form a committee comprising officials, tribals and prominent public to run the cultural centre. The process is under way," he added.
The cultural centre also provides parking space for at least 200 vehicles.