A day after it came under attack from various quarters, the State Government on Tuesday stated that it would examine the ground for rejection of its tableau in this year’s Republic Day parade at New Delhi. “The rejection of the State’s tableau is very unfortunate. We will examine it,” said Information and Public Relations Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak. Generally, the I&PR Department prepares the tableau and sends the same to the Centre for selection.
Acclaimed stage craft exponent and theatre director Asim Basu who had been associated with the preparation of the tableaux from 1972 to 2004, said, “We failed to make it because the entire selection was done by a handful of officials who have very little idea about the intricacies of art and culture.” “The Government should involve eminent artists of the State rather than totally depend on officials to select the theme of the tableau. There are some criteria for making a tableau. If we don’t follow it, there is the chance of rejection,” said Basu. This is for the second consecutive year that the Odisha tableau got rejected by the Central Government. For this year’s Republic Day, the proposed theme of the tableau was stone carving.