16.June.

10
To,

The Administrator,
Punjab Raj Bhavan,
Sector – 6,
Chandigarh

The Secretary,
Ministry of Home Affairs,
North Block Central Secretariat,
New Delhi - 110 001

The Secretary,
502-C, Shastri Bhawan,
New Delhi

The Administrator, Chandigarh through Advisor,

Punjab Raj Bhawan,
Sector – 6,
Chandigarh

1. I am a citizen of India and a resident of Chandigarh and it is my

constitutional duty to bring to your kind notice an important social issue
that is seriously affecting the constitutional legal rights of the deserving
amateur groups and residents of Chandigarh and is hindering the
development of art, culture and folk forms in the city beautiful.

2. The Tagore Theatre, Sector 18, Chandigarh is one of the many such
theaters that were started way back in the year 1961 to mark the birth
centenary of the great poet and artist Shri Rabindranath Tagore, who also
won the international noble prize. These theatres were built with 50 %
financial assistance from the Central Govt. with a main objective ‘to make
available to professional and non-professional troupes a good theatre at
low-cost’. It was evolved for the cultural evolution of the common-man
and for the growth of performing arts in the society so that the
constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed to
every citizen under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India finds an
appropriate outlet. It is pertinent to mention here that the renovation and
maintenance of the Tagore Theatre is carried out through public funds by
way of taxes and other modes which is a direct contribution of the citizens
of chandigarh.

3. It would be relevant to bring to your notice that keeping in mind the sacred
objective of the establishment of the Tagore Theater, a separate category,
namely, the Category A (for Amateurs) has existed since its inception
whereby, the rates of the groups and independent artists falling under such
category have been subsidized to Rs. 3000/- whereas the original non-
subsidized fee is Rs. 25,000/- as charged from the general categories.

4. It has come to notice that the Tagore Theatre which was essentially
established as a Theatre ‘auditorium’ and not as a ‘general public hall’,
and intended to provide for a much-needed platform to Dance, Drama and
Music for the development of Art and Culture in this young city; is being
utilized by the Chandigarh Administration in a highly commercial and
arbitrary manner whereby an unlawful illegal process is being adopted so
as to give a preferential treatment to certain well-known NGOs and
societies, thereby defeating the basic right of equality before law. Thus,
when a common man or a deserving amateur dramatics group approaches
the authorities, a hefty fee is charged from them thereby rendering the
Theatre services inaccessible to such societies and due to such un called
 for discriminatory treatment, the sole objective for the fulfillment of which
this prestigious establishment was incorporated, is totally defeated.

5. It is pertinent to mention here that the truthfulness and integrity of the

original vision of the theater was beautifully preserved by the office
bearers in the earlier times. Today, however, the object of the theatre has
so conveniently faded away due to a handful of whimsical officers. It is
clear from the actions of the Administration that the Tagore Theatre is
being used for vested purposes by the powers in charge of the Theatre
keeping in mind the interests of only a certain set of dramatic groups/clubs
over and above the general interest of the residents of Chandigarh. What
used to be a mecca of the performing artists of the city, has slowly been
transformed into a ‘general purpose utility hall’ and is being molded into a
‘convention centre’ and this matter should be brought to the immediate
notice of the authorities and a necessary action should be taken to put an
end to such bigotry on the part of the administrative authorities of the
Tagore Theatre.

6. In past there have been many instances where a clear priority was given to
Art and Cultural programs over the programs of commercial interest.
However, today, there is a paradigm shift in the priorities set by the
authorities in regard to controlling the kind of functions which take place
at Tagore Theatre. Its shocking that even after having a Manager and
Director at Tagore theatre, the office of Home Secretary is focusing on
‘booking of theatres’ in the city rather than focusing on the main object of
their own office. Also, there is a paradigm shift in the nature of functions
being organized at the Tagore Theatre. It would be pertinent to mention
here that the event- list of last year and a half, clearly shows that NO
Independent Theatre happened in Amateur Category in Tagore Theatre
whereas the number of Seminars, business meetings and conferences has
increased many-fold though.

7. Over last few years, the ‘initial Categorization’ (for fixing of booking
rates) which was based on the nature of function and was friendly to
Amateur/Art/culture/non-commercial events, has been twisted in such
a manner that the present categorization is actually a deterrent for the art
and culture/non-commercial events being organized in the general
interests of the residents of Chandigarh. This is highlighted by the fact that
in the present category system, the art functions of ‘non-commercial
interest’ have been placed at par with ‘corporate events’ organized by
commercial establishments. Moreover, there is no distinction in the fee
charged for a seminar/conference and that of a non-commercial ‘art and
cultural’, especially by amateur groups. After the renovation of the
Theatre, the Booking in category A for amateurs has been denied to
various art and culture promoting events being organized by many
deserving amateur artists/groups viz, Panjpani rang manch, Adakar
Manch ,Mohali , Manch-Tantra , Sri- Sathya Sai Seva Foundation,
Deafway Foundation etc and in contrast to this the same category has
been give to corporate groups like ITFT and professional Theater troupes
like Anurag Kashyap and certain well-known NGOs having not only
ample funds for booking of events but also being headed by persons
having good influence over the administration of the Tagore Theatre, like
National Adventure Club etc. It should be reiterated here that the original
purpose of the incorporation of the Tagore theatre was to ‘promote
performing arts and create interest in them & to make available to
professional and non-professional troupes a good theatre at low-cost’.

8. In an attempt to bring this issue to the notice of the authorities, a silent and
peaceful protest was organized by more than 150 well-known as well as
amateur artists of the city outside the Tagore Theatre on the World Theatre
Day, 27.03.2010, demanding the implementation of the actual rates as
fixed by the Tagore Theatre society for the amateur categories. The protest
 was widely covered by the press and the Home Secretary addressed the
public on the spot where he promised to resolve the issue as soon as
possible and requested for a proper representation to be addressed to his
office for this purpose. Thereafter, on 31.03.2010, a representation by
more than six people, including me, was presented to the office of the
Home Secretary setting forth the demands earlier mentioned for the fixing
of rates. However, no reply was ever reverted back to us by the office of
the Home Secretary. but through an oral representation, the amateur
groups were asked to avail the services of other theatres as the Tagore
Theatre was reserved only for ‘good theatre’ as per the discretion of the
Home Secretary office.

9. Rendered helpless by such callous treatment meted out to us, I filed an

application under the Right to Information Act, 2005 whereby information
was sought on the following matters by me:-

(i) details of the events that were organized in the last five years at the
Tagore Theatre;
(ii) details of costs and other matters pertaining to the renovation of the
Tagore Thatre; and
(iii) details of the categories being crafted by the administration for the
purpose of performing at the Theatre.

10. On 07.05.2010, I received a reply from the Central Public Information

Officer whereby necessary information was provided to me. It was
confirmed that the Category A (for amateurs) was indeed entitled to the
privilege of subsidy in fee charges (Rs. 3,000/-). It is worth mentioning
here that no public notice/order to this effect was ever published by the
Administration authorities of the Tagore Theatre in the general interest
informing the residents about their rights and privileges.

11. On 09.06.2010, a press release was issued by me in the larger public

interest informing the residents about the information that was provided to
me under the RTI Act and addressing the grievances of the amateur groups
and the unfair treatment meted out to them at the hands of the
administration. Please find attached the copy of the press release, dated
10.06.2010, 11.06.2010& 12.06.2010.

12. Following this sequence of events, on 12.06.2010 a press release was

issued as a reply by the Chd. Adm. whereby an unthinkable comparison
was made between the Tagore Theatre (a govt. funded institution set up
under the Tagore Birth Centenary, 1961 for public interest) and other
privately owned institutions, namely FICCI Auditorium, Delhi;
Indradhanush Auditorium, Panchkula; Kamani Auditorium, Delhi and the
like. It was argued by the Adm. that the fees charged by the Tagore
Theatre were much lesser than those charged by these private and
internationally acclaimed institutes. However, no comparison was made to
the other sister institutes of the Tagore Theatre in all over India set up for
the same objective where the exactly same subsidy applies for the amateur
groups.

13. It is submitted that the Tagore Theatre is an institution created and

established with a definite purpose in mind and not for capital generating
purposes but this fact was conveniently overlooked by the authorities and
 thus the present situation where much deserving amateur groups who are
the main beneficiaries of the noble purpose that establishes the very
foundation of the Tagore Theatre are not even entertained by the Theatre
administration. Furthermore, it was stated in the said press release that the
Tagore Theatre needs to ‘generate money’ as it does not receive any
financial aid from the Govt. whereas as per the information obtained by
me under the RTI Act, the theatre annually receives an aggregate grant of
Rs. 10 lakhs from the D.P.R. Chandigarh & Haryana.

14. I am aggrieved by the careless and despicable attitude meted out to the
residents of Chandigarh at the hands of the public authorities. It is a gross
infringement of the fundamental rights guaranteed to every citizen and
enshrined in the Constitution of India, namely the Right to Equality under
Article 14; and the Freedom of Right to Speech & Expression under
Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India and is adversely affecting not
only the rights of the much deserving amateur dramatic and theatre groups
but the cultural and artistic spirit of the Chandigarh City is suffering as a
whole. I, hereby, demand that :-

(I) the spirit of the Constitution as enshrined in Article 14, 19(1)(a) and
21 be upheld and maintained;
(II) no citizen should be prevented in any manner from fulfilling his
Fundamental Duties as provided under Article 51(a) of the
Constitution;
(III) the management and operation of the Tagore Theatre must adhere to
the basic objectives and guidelines for which it was conceptualized
and established;
(IV) no theatre group/person/organization be prevented whether directly
or indirectly in any manner from conducting any sort of cultural
activity in the Tagore Theatre;
(V) the present discriminatory manner in which the Tagore Theatre is
being booked and the inequitable fee levied be done away with and
the sole criterion for booking the Theatre be first-come-first-serve
basis;
(VI) the unnecessary control of bureaucrats and other functionaries in
charge be done away with, and be passed over to groups of artists
and creative people; and
(VII) the services of Tagore Theatre should be availed only for
theatre/cultural/creative pursuits and all other forms of commercial
activities should be shifted to other commercial places like the CII,
Taj, Mount View, etc.

I demand restoration of my rights, redressal of the above mentioned

grievances and a decision on the prayer as submitted by me at the earliest
possible instance, not later than a fortnight from now.

Dr. Gaurav Chhabra