Lok Sabha Question No. 4935 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-26
Subject: Holistic Study of Indian Culture
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: VINOD KUMAR BOIANAPALLI, G. HARI, RABINDRA KUMAR JENA, ELUMALAI VELLAIGOUNDER, SAUGATA ROY

- (a) Yes, Madam.
- (b) An expert committee has been set up for conducting holistic study of origin and evolution of ancient Indian culture since 12000 B.P. and to have interface with other cultures of the world.  The  concept  note  of  holistic  study  included  study  of  various  stages  of  human evolution from the era of hunting gathering, domestication of plants and animals, Neolithic age, era of agricultural development, era of formation of social and cultural system, era of scientific  development,  era  of  urbanization,  trade  and  cultural  authorities  etc.  To  carry study on above aspects experts/scholars from different fields viz. Archaeology, Anthropology, Linguistics, Geology etc. were considered for the committee. Following are members of the committee:

Shri K.N. Dikshit, New Delhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4935 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.03.2018

## HOLISTIC STUDY OF INDIAN CULTURE

## 4935. SHRI B. VINOD KUMAR:

SHRI G. HARI:

SHRI RABINDRA KUMAR JENA:

SHRI V. ELUMALAI:

PROF. SAUGATA ROY:

Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has set up a Committee/Panel to conduct a Holistic Study on origin and the evolution of 12,000 years of Indian Culture;
- (b) if  so,  the  details thereof along with the terms of reference, composition and the criteria adopted to select the members of the said Committee and the rationale behind setting up of this Panel;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  any  proposal  to  re-write  certain  aspects  of  the  ancient Indian history and text books and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the time by which the said panel is likely to submit its report to the Government along with the methodologies being used by the panel to study the evolution of Indian Culture and its history; and
- (e) whether the Government proposes to place this report in the public domain and if so, the details thereof along with the time by which it is likely to be done and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR CULTURE AND MINISTER OF STATE FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE.

## (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

Dr. R.S. Bisht, Gaziabad Dr. B.R. Mani, New Delhi Prof. Santosh Shukla, New Delhi Dr. Ramesh Kumar Pandey, New Delhi Prof. Makkhan Lal, Noida,UP Dr. G.N. Srivastava, Lucknow Justice Mukundkam Sharma, New Delhi Prof. P.N. Shastri, New Delhi Prof. R.C. Sharma, Faridabad Prof. K.K. Mishra Bhubaneswar Dr. Balram Shukla, New Delhi Prof. Azad kaushik, Canada Pt. M.R. Sharma, Gurgaon

- (c) No, Madam.
- (d) The time limit is not defined.
- (e) The Committee has met two times viz. 3 rd January, 2017 and 2 nd May 2017. In the second meeting the Committee discussed and worked out the modalities of reaching to a uniform agreement  in  corroboration  with  all  the  multidisciplinary  facts.  The  views  of  all  the members have been invited to draw guidelines for further action.