Chandigarh February 13: The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal today met a team from Haryana Kala Parishad, who had come to put forward their demand of shifting the North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala (NZCC) from Punjab to Haryana. Taking cognizance of this, the Chief Minister assured to take necessary action. The officers of Haryana Kala Parishad thanked the Chief Minister for this and apprised him regarding its benefits for artists of Haryana.

On this occasion, the Chief Minister said that the artists of Haryana have also faced problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they have been provided other assistance besides honorarium during this.

Director, Haryana Kala Parishad, Mr. Sanjay Bhasin, Additional Director, Haryana Kala Parishad, Mr. Gajender Phogat, Mr. Mahavir Guddu also handed over a memorandum signed by hundreds of artists of the state to the Chief Minister. The memorandum demanding to move the headquarters of NZCC, Patiala to Haryana, had been pending since the last 35 years. Apart from this, the folk artists have especially demanded in this memorandum that one sub-center of this cultural center should also be set up in all the states stating that only the artists of Punjab are getting benefitted due to the NZCC being in Patiala. It is dominated by Punjab's staff that deprives the artists from other seven states of its benefits.

Giving more information about this, Mr. Sanjay Bhasin said that the artists have demanded in this memorandum that the artists of Haryana should also be given equal remuneration as the artists of Punjab being sent from North Zone to the Gita Jayanti, Saraswati Mahotsav, and other State-Level National events of Haryana. The artists also stated in the memorandum that since the center is in the same state for the last 36 years and almost all the officers in it from Punjab, artists from other states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan are being ignored, he added.