Lok Sabha Question No. 898 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-21
Subject: Guidelines for Appointment of ASI Guides
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: T.G. VENKATESH BABU

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.898 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.11.2016 KARTIKA 30, 1938 (SAKA)

## GUIDELINES FOR APPOINTMENT OF ASI GUIDES

## 898. SHRI  VENKATESH BABU T.G.

Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to state:

- (a) the  estimated  number  of  guides  working  in  ASI  protected  monuments  in  the country;
- (b) whether the Government has any proposal to revise the guidelines for appointment of ASI guides and to make the system transparent;
- (c) if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the time by which the above proposal is likely to be implemented?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE, CULTURE AND TOURISM (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)

## (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

- (a) There  are  2996  Ministry  of  Tourism  approved  Regional  Level  Tourist  Guides including  303  Part  Time  Guides  in  Archaeological  Survey  of  India  protected monuments in the country.
- (b) Yes, Madam. Government has already revised the guidelines for appointment of Archaeological Survey of India guides to make the system transparent.
- (c) Copy enclosed as Annexure.
- (d) As per the Guide Policy of Archaeological Survey of India for centrally protected monuments,  the  proposal  is  likely  to  be  implemented  within  one  year  from  the date of the notification of this policy.

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 898 FOR 21.11.2016

## The Policy for Archaeological Survey of India Guides to perform within Centrally Protected Monuments

## Introduction & Objectives

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), under the Ministry of Culture, is the premier organization for the archaeological researches and protection of the cultural heritage of the nation. Maintenance of ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains of national importance  is the prime  concern  of the  ASI.  Besides, it regulates all archaeological activities in the country as per the provisions of the Ancient Monuments and  Archaeological  Sites  and  Remains  (AMASR)  Act,  1958  and  Rules,  1959  with subsequent amendments.

ASI administers and manages 3686 ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains of national importance through its 29 Circles and 3 Mini-circles. Being a custodian  of  centrally  protected  monuments  and  responsible  to  manage  all  affairs related to protected monuments, the Archaeological Survey of India is mandated to take actions so that activities  are  taken  up  in  harmony  with the  provisions  of  AMASR  Act, 1958 and Rules, 1959 made there under.

Guiding involves disseminating knowledge about our cultural heritage among the common masses such as tourists, students or common art lovers who require varying nature of information before and while visiting any place of their choice. The experience acquired  with  the  help  of  received  or  gathered  information,  enrich  the,  knowledge  of individual,  help  one  to  plan  things  in  advance  and  ease  out  one's  stay  at  tourist destinations, which make the tour memorable as a whole.

Tourists may need simple information on subjects like accommodation, transportation,  places  of  interest,  market,  medical  aid,  helpline,  other  offices,  etc., besides  detailed  and  authentic  information  about  national  monuments.  signages, published literature,  electronic  media,  web  world,  etc.  are  flooded  with  information  on varied  subjects  but  ultimately  has  their  own  limitations.  In  spite  of  having  information through various resources, everybody wants to visit his place of interest once in a life. While visiting the heritage site, a tourist requires authentic information for that purpose a guide appears to be the best medium of communication for providing information on the spot  to  tourists  as  per  their  interest  and  requirement  and  oriented  according  to  the queries.  Personal interaction is the best medium to disseminate information.  So far as centrally  protected  monuments  are  concerned,  the  Guide  would  play  a  vital  role  in disseminating correct and factual information with his knowledge and experience so that the visitor is enriched and enjoys his experience during his visit to the monument in the larger context.

Guiding in Centrally Protected Monuments or monuments & sites maintained/administered/managed  by  the  Archaeological  Survey  of  India  by  charging certain fee from visitor attracts provisions the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules, 1959. Rule 8 of the AMASR Rules, 1959 provides prohibition of certain acts within the monument or site. Sub Rule 8(d) of the above rules specifies requirement of a licence from designated authority for guiding with charging certain fee in the premises of Centrally Protected Monument.

Rule 8(d) : No person shall within a protected monuments hawk or sell any goods or wares or canvas any custom for such goods or wares or display any advertisement in any form or show a visitor round or take his  photograph for monetary consideration, except under the authority of, or under, and in accordance with the conditions of, a licence granted by an archaeological officer or Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism,  Government  of  India  for  the  purposes  of  showing  a  visitor round;

At present, the above Rule position is under implementation by the ASI and shall be applicable for the purposes of this Policy document.

Further,  to facilitate  the  issuing  of guide  licence  and  related  affairs,  vide notification  S.O.  73  (E)  dated  21.01.2003,  the  Additional  Director  General,  Ministry  of Tourism, Government of India has been delegated with powers for framing and issuing of guidelines, for issuance of the guide licences, approval and registration of qualified persons selected through due process by a committee constituted for the purpose to operate in the protected monuments of national importance.

That the said delegation is being withdrawn.

## 2. Scope and effect

- 2.1 That from now onwards there shall be only one category of guides known as 'ASI  Monument  guide'  who  would  be  authorized  to  work  in  the  centrally protected  monuments  or  monuments  &  sites  maintained  /  administered  / managed by the Archaeological Survey of India for which he is licenced. The policy shall be applicable only to such guides who are allowed to work in the centrally protected monuments or monuments & sites maintained / administered  /  managed  by  the  Archaeological  Survey  of  India  having  valid licence granted by the Specified Authority as required under Rule 8(d) of the AMASR Rules, 1959.
- 2.2 The assessment of number of tourist guides for each monument or group of monuments would be determined by the foot fall, growth potential, extent and size  of  the  monuments/group  of  monuments.  The  process  would  be  done every five years by the Archaeological Survey of India.
- 2.3 The  licence  would  be  granted  to  individuals  only  and  not  to  any  firm  or association or company or other body corporate, after following due process of selection.
- 2.4 The Archaeological Survey of India shall be responsible for conducting the tests and work out mechanism for grant of such licences. In so far  as  Monument Guides operating within the centrally protected monuments are concerned, the various categories of guides who have qualified the test to be conducted under this  policy  shall  only  be  entitled  to  operate  within  the  centrally  protected monuments.
- 2.5 This Policy shall acknowledge all licences given to guides working at Fatehpur

Sikri,  by  the  Archaeological  Survey  of  India  pursuant  to the  directions of  the Hon'ble  Supreme  Court  of  India  and  shall  be  deemed  to  have  been  given under this policy, till fresh  licences  are  issued to such  guides  in  accordance with  present  policy,  which  shall  not  be  later  than  one  year  from  the  date  of notification of this policy.

Provided that the Archaeological Survey of India shall conduct the necessary examination within the said period of one year.

Similarly,  all  guide  licences  granted  by  the  Additional  Director  General, Department of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism (GOI) shall be acknowledged and deemed to have been issued under this policy, till fresh licences are issued to such guides in accordance with present policy, which shall not be later than one year from the date of notification of this policy.

Provided that the Archaeological Survey of India shall conduct the necessary examination within the said period of one year.

- 2.6 Only those Guides who have been issued licences under the present policy or those who are deemed to have been licenced under clause 2.5A, subject to the provisions thereof, shall be entitled to act as licenced guide(s) within the Centrally Protected Monuments or monuments & sites maintained / administered / managed by the Archaeological Survey of India.
- 2.7 Subject  to  clause  2.5A,  on  and  after  the  issuance  of  Licences  by  the Archaeological  Survey  of  India  under  the  present  policy,  all  licences  issued earlier by any Authority shall become invalid and will not entitle any person to act  as  Guides  in  the  Centrally  Protected  Monuments  or  monuments  &  sites maintained / administered / managed by the Archaeological Survey of India.
- 2.8 Date of Effect : the policy shall came into the force from the date on which it is formally notified by the ASI. It shall not have retrospective effect.

## 3. Selection criterion.

- 3.1 Educational Qualification: following qualification is recommended.

| Educational qualification                                                                                   | Experience                                                           | Language                                                |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| Bachelor Degree (Ancient History, Medieval history, Modern history, with knowledge of art and architecture) | Guide should have sufficient experience in guiding at monuments.     | He should have fluency in one or more languages.        |
| Desirable : Degree in tourism / hotel management                                                            | Specific experience of guiding in the monument or group of monument. | Knowledge of a foreign language in addition to English. |

The Archaeological Survey of India may in the interest and expediency exempt or relax  the  educational  qualifications  taking  into  consideration  the  experience possessed by a candidate/s in the given case.

## 3.2  Age Limit.

- (a) The  Individual  should  be  of  minimum  21  years  of  age  at  the  time  of submission of application for a fresh licence.
- (b) The licence of an ASI monument guide, who has attained 60 years of age, shall  thereafter  be  renewed  subject  to  medical  fitness  test  and  a  report certifying the fitness of the concerned guide.

## 3.3  Other conditions.

- (a) He should be a citizen of India.
- (b) He  should  have  clean  Police  record  or  should  not  have  any  criminal  case pending against him/her.
- (c) He should not have been convicted / penalized in the past.
- (d) Preference  may  be  given  to  local  candidate  who  is  well  versed  with  the monuments of that area.

## 3.4.   Domicile Proof.

- (a) Candidates  who  wish  to  work  as  Guides  will  have  to  submit  their residence proof of the State in which the tourist destination / monument / site is situated.
- (b) Candidates have to submit the proof of Domicile with the application.
- (c) The following are recommended as documentary proof for Domicile:
- (i)    Certificate  of  proof  of  Residence  by  the  competent  authority  (not below the rank of Tehsildar).
- (ii)  Passport.
- (iii) Voter Identity Card.
- (iv) Ration Card.

## 4. Process of selection.

- 4.1  Wide publicity shall be given while inviting applications for grant of licence and sufficient time shall be given for filling up of applications.
- 4.2  The  applications  shall  be  invited  through  open  advertisement  specifying  the number of guides with respect to specific monument or group of monuments.
- 4.3  Individuals shall submit their application(s) in the prescribed Form, as specified by the Archaeological Survey of India along with photocopies of all documents required as proof of their eligibility and in no case applicants shall be allowed to submit any additional document/s as such proof at a later stage.
- 4.4  The process of selection shall comprise written test and viva voce.
- 4.5  The entire process shall be conducted in a fair and transparent manner.
- 4.6  Individual may apply for one or more licences in respect of specific monuments or  group  of  monuments.    The  maximum  number  of  monument  specific licences which may be issued to a person shall not be more than 15 (fifteen) and in respect of group specific monuments the licences to be issued shall not  exceed  5(five)  groups  of  monuments.    Issuance  of  either  category  of licence shall not be a bar for issuance of licence in the other category.

## 5.  Written Test and Viva Voce

- 5.1     Examination  for  selection  of  required  numbers  of  candidates  for  grant  of licence shall consist of written Test and Viva Voce.
- 5.2        Archaeological  Survey  of  India  shall  formulate  written  test  with  a  view  to testing the knowledge of candidate on history, architecture and significance of monuments in addition to general awareness.
- 5.3   The written examination shall be more elaborate so that caliber and ability of the candidate is well represented.
- 5.4    Archaeological Survey of India shall take written test and Viva Voce.
- 5.5   The Viva Voce shall be conducted by a committee comprising not less than three  experts,  one  each  from  ASI  and  MOT  and  another  expert(s)  as Archaeological Survey of India may deem fit and proper.
- 5.6.  Examinations/tests  and  viva  voce  shall  be  held  in  respect  of  both  specific monuments as well as group specific monuments.
- 5.7 Test or training shall be organized in such a manner that no two tests overlap with each other.   It shall be ensured that the dates of tests for group specific monuments shall  not  clash  with  the  dates  for  the  tests  concerning  specific monuments.
- 5.8  On completion of test and viva-voce, ASI shall draw a merit list for grant of licences for monument specific and group of monuments specific guides.

## 6 Training

- 6.1      All candidates found successful after written test and viva voce shall be given training.
- 6.2 Objective of the training should be to impart knowledge of essential guiding skills, tourism products/ aspects of the destination & state, and fair knowledge of social, political and economic policies etc., of the destination/ region in specific and entire country in general.  The detailed syllabi would be laid down by the Archaeological Survey of India in consultation with the Ministry of Tourism, GOI.
- 6.3       The duration of the Training to candidates is recommended as under:
- 6.4 Archaeological  Survey  of  India  shall  design  a  training  module-  monument specific as well as group of monument  specifics, basics and ethics, rules, etc., in consultation with the Ministry of Tourism, GOI.
- 6.5 The field training would be given to all successful candidates to enrich their knowledge to cover monument(s) for which the licence is granted.
- 6.6  During  the  training  course  frequent  group  discussions  &  role  plays  shall  be arranged to improve their interactive and relational abilities.
- 6.7  At  the  end  of  training  each  candidate  shall  submit  a  report  on  the  given assignment for valuation.

Duration of class room training :

4 weeks

Duration of field training :

2 weeks

## 7. Issuance of guide licence.

- 7.1 On completion of guide training course, certificate to all candidates would be issued by Archaeological Survey of India.
- 7.2 Issue  of  licence:  successful  candidates  after  going  through  training  and completion of required assignment shall be given licence by the Archaeological Survey of India under Rule 8 (d) of AMASR Rules, 1959.
- 7.3  Archaeological Survey of India may design an ID card to be issued to all guides

with licence.

8. Fee for licence : Archaeological Survey of India may charge fee from guides as notified from time to time.

## 9. Renewal of licence:

- 9.1 Every  licence shall  be renewed  after  five years  subject to applicable guidelines and/ or terms and conditions, if any.
- 9.2  The renewal of licence shall not be automatic. A licence shall be renewed after an interview of the applicant guide. The interview shall aim to test whether the concerned guide has updated his information/knowledge about the concerned monument or  not  in  keeping  with  passage  of  time.    Pending  complaints,  if any,  against  that  applicant  who  intends  to  renew  his  licence  shall  be  taken into account at the time of renewal.  Renewal cannot be claimed as a matter of right.
- 9.3  Archaeological  Survey  of  India  shall  be  entitled  to  charge  a  fee  for  renewal  of guide licence, as shall be notified.

## 10.   Renewal of licence upon attaining 60 years:

Presently  no  specific  age  of  retirement  is  being  specified.  However,  after attaining the age of 60 years a guide shall have to undergo a Medical Fitness test and obtain a certificate from a Registered Medical Practitioner (RMP) certifying that he is both physically and mentally fit for duties of a guide, before renewal of licence. No renewal of licence of a guide who has attained the age of 60 years shall be granted without such fitness test and the necessary medical certificate.

11. Loss of licence/ID : In case of loss or theft of licence or ID, the concerned guide shall immediately inform the concerned authority in writing and also give written information of such loss or theft to local police station.

## 12. Duplicate licence/ID:

- 12.1 For  Duplicate  licence  or  ID  card,  as  the  case  may  be,  the  candidate  shall make an application to the Archaeological Survey of India for the purpose in the format as specified by the ASI.
- 12.2 Archaeological Survey of India may charge a fee for issue of duplicate licence or ID card as the case may be.
- 12.3 After  completing the required process, duplicate licence or  ID card shall  be issued to the candidate, which shall not be later than 30 days from the date of his application.

## 13. Management of Guides.

- 13.1 Archaeological Survey of India reserves the right to  specify and  restrict the total  number  of  guides  who  may  be  permitted  to  operate  in  a  specific monument or a group of monuments.
- 13.2 Archaeological Survey of India reserves the right to vary, reduce or increase the number of guides with respect to any monument or group of monuments as  may  be  required  and  deemed  fit  by  ASI  depending  upon  change  of attending  circumstances  or  for  any  other  reason  or  reasons,  necessitating such variance in the number of operating as ASI Monument Guides.
- 13.3 Archaeological  Survey  of  India  shall  specify  detailed  guidelines,  dos  and don'ts for the guides within premises of the monument.
- 13.4 Archaeological  Survey  of  India  shall  specify  other  required  conditions  to be  followed  or  imposed  for  smooth  functioning  of  the  guiding  system  in monuments  in  the  interest  of  tourists  and  propagation  of  historical  and archaeological significance of the protected monuments.
- 13.5 Archaeological Survey of India shall be entitled to regulate the functioning of  guides  and  guiding  activities  within  the  area  of  monuments  of  national importance.
- 13.6 The Superintending Archaeologist  of  a  Circle  shall  have  the  right  to  bar the  entry  of  any  ASI  Monument  Guide  on  grounds  of  misconduct  or  other grounds of misbehavior with tourists or any other like reason or in the interest of safeguarding the welfare of the monument and the tourists.
- 13.7 In  addition  to  the  above,  the  Superintending  Archaeologist  of  the  Circle shall have the right to recommend suspension or cancellation of a licence on the grounds as mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
14. Feedback : ASI shall put in place a mechanism to collect feedback from visitors  on  guiding  activities  within  the  centrally  protected  monuments  or  sites maintained / administered / managed by the Archaeological Survey of India.
15.  Publicity:  ASI  shall  take  all  steps  for  making  adequate  publicity  not  only concerning  the  monuments  under  its  protection  but  also  the  information  about guide and guide activities.
15.  Powers: ASI reserves the right to make amend, alter or modify this policy as may be required from time to time.

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