Complete Uday Shankar dance academy, say activists

Our Correspondent

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Pithoragarh, March 11

Almora cultural activists have urged the authorities concerned to speed up construction of Uday Shankar Music and Dance Academy at Phalseema. The center was sanctioned in 2001 by the then Union Cultural Minister.

Uday Shankar had a special liking for Almora, where he stayed from 1936 to 1942. “He wanted to settle in Almora. He also started a dance academy in 1938 and established Uday Shankar Indian Cultural Centre at Silmtola, near Almora. However, due to paucity of funds, the centre had to be closed in 1942. After this, he left the town,” said Navin Singh Bisht, a Kumaoni poet. Local cultural enthusiasts, later, put forward their demand for opening a centre in the name of the legend. They succeeded in their initiative and also invited the then President APJ Abdul Kalam to inaugurate the centre. They received a grant of Rs 8 crore from the then Union Government. “The building was proposed to be completed in 2008. However, the project has been delayed as the rest of the sanctioned amount for building the centre never reached district officials allegedly due to the indifferent attitude of the state and Central governments,” said Bisht.