Parliament Question: Preservation and Digitisation of Manuscript Heritage

MINISTRY OF CULTURE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5032 ANSWERED ON 23.03.2026 Preservation and Digitisation of Manuscript Heritage 5032. Smt. Poonamben Hematbhai Maadam: Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has undertaken steps for the preservation, conservation and digitisation of India's manuscript heritage; (b) if so, the details thereof, including the conservation and restoration measures being implemented to safeguard fragile manuscripts; and (c) the details of the progress made in digitisation and creation of a secure and accessible digital repository for long-term preservation and scholarly access? ANSWER MINISTER OF CULTURE AND TOURISM (SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT) (a) to (c) Yes Sir. Gyan Bharatam Mission (GBM), announced during Union Budget 2025-26, is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Culture (MoC), Government of India to undertake manuscripts related activities under various components including survey and registration of manuscripts, building robust technology infrastructure and partnership, documentation, preservation, conservation, digitization, publication of manuscripts and capacity building & research. The steps envisaged under GBM to safeguard India's manuscript heritage includes onboarding of institutions making conservation of manuscripts an integral activity there through preventive and curative methods, establishment and upgradation of conservation laboratories in the onboarded institutions, conducting capacity building programs, workshops and hands-on training etc. Recently, two-day conservation workshop was successfully concluded at National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property (NRLC), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh from 12th - 13th February, 2026 with participation of more than 40 participants from the institutions onboarded with GBM. Technical partners have been onboarded for various functions including metadata creation and its integration on National Digital Repository (NDR), deployment of equipments, AI-integrated digital platform and long-term data storage. More than 8 lakh digitized manuscripts in different formats such as DVD, HDD, microfilms are available across the country, out of which, 1.29 lakh manuscripts are accessible, in view mode, to the public on the Gyan Bharatam Portal. *****