Ministry of Culture has set up seven Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs) with the objective of promotion and preservation of traditional folk arts of States within their respective jurisdictions. Although budgetary provisions are not made state-wise, a total budget of Rs. 2159 lakhs has been allocated to ZCCs under Plan during 2009-10 (including Rs. 759 lakhs under NE head) for implementation of their schemes. The details of the ZCCs and the schemes implemented by them are at Annexure. In addition, Sangeet Natak Akademi and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts have provisions for supporting the traditional art forms by way of grants, festivals, collections, documentation, research and publication etc; and the Ministry of textiles operates schemes through the office of Development Commissioners of Handlooms and Handicrafts.
Details of ZCCs and their schemes
| Sl.No. | Name of the centre | Headquarter | Member States |
| 1 | North Zone Cultural Centre | Patiala | Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttrakhand, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Chandigarh |
| 2. | West Zone Cultural Centre | Udaipur | Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Union Territory of Daman and Diu and Nagra Haveli |
| 3 | South Zone Cultural Centre | Thanjavur | Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Union Territories of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Puducherry. |
| 4 | South Central Zone Cultural Centre | Nagpur | Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra |
| 5 | Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre | Kolkata | Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Orissa, Sikkim, Tripura, West Bengal and Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. |
| 6 | North Central Zone Cultural Centre | Allahabad | Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttrakhand and Delhi. |
| 7 | North East Zone Cultural Centre | Dimapur | Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. |
ZCCs are implementing the following schemes to promote the traditional folk arts of the member-states:-
1) National Cultural Exchange Programme: With a view to present art forms of one region to another and expose the diverse cultural heritage of each region to the rest of the country, the folk/tribal artistes are sent on exchange manner to participate in the programmes organized by the seven Zonal Cultural Centres.
2) Guru Shishya Parampara Scheme: The Scheme was introduced in 2003-04 with a view to promote development of new talents in the field of music and dance, folk and tribal art forms, under the able guidance of Gurus.
3) Young Talented Artistes Scheme: The Scheme was introduced during the year 2004-05 to recognize and encourage young talents in the various folk arts forms of different regions in the country.
4) Documentation of Vanishing Art Forms: Under the Scheme, documentation of various traditional folk art forms is undertaken, especially of those which are seen to be vanishing.
5) Shilpagram Activities: ZCCs have set up Shilpagrams at Chandigarh, Khajuraho, Udaipur, Guwahati, Allahabad and Shantiniketan to encourage various forms of traditional folk/tribal arts from rural India. These Shilpagrams are attracting a large number of domestic as well as foreign visitors. Through these Shilpgrams, a large number of artistes and artisans are benefitted and a large number of people are made aware of our rich cultural heritage.
Loktarang – National Folk Dance Festival and OCTAVE – Festival of the North East: All the ZCCs participate in these National level festivals organized every year in New Delhi and/or other places. A large number of folk/tribal artistes from all corners of the country perform during these festivals to showcase the diverse folk/tribal arts of our different regions/states.
