Lok Sabha Question No. 3132 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-31
Subject: Digitisation of Manuscripts
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: HARI MANJHI

† 3132. SHRI HARI MANJHI:

Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether our country is home to the largest collection of manuscripts in the world;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the present policy for the conservation/ safety and digitalisation of manuscript heritage of the country;
- (c) the number of manuscripts documented, digitalized and conserved till date; and
- (d) the details of the funds allocated in this regard during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise?

## MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR CULTURE AND MINISTER OF STATE FOR ENVIORNMENT, FOREST & CLIMATE CHANGE

## (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

## ANSWER

- (a)    Madam,  it  is  possible  that  our  country  may  be  the  home  to  the  largest  collection  of manuscripts  in  the  world,  however  no  comparative  global  study  on  manuscripts  by  this Ministry is available.
- (b)    Ministry  of  Culture  launched  National  Mission  for  Manuscripts  (NMM)  in  2003  for documentation, conservation/preservation and digitization of manuscripts. Till date it has documented about 43.16 lakh Manuscripts in different scripts and languages.

For  conservation  and  preservation  of  manuscripts,  the  cases  are  dealt  on  the  basis  of availability and accessibility. For conservation of manuscripts, NMM follows the guidelines prepared by National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property (NRLC), Lucknow.

- (c)    Till  date  43.16  lakh  manuscripts  have  been  documented.  Preventive  conservation  of 39099246  folios  and  curative  conservation  of  3655777  folios  has  been  done  till  date. Digitization of 2.83 lakh manuscript consisting of 2.93 crore pages has been done.
- (d) The  details  of  funds  allocated  in  this  regard  during  each  of  the  last  three  years  and current year, State/UT-wise details are given in Annexure.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3132 TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.12.2018

## DIGITISATION OF MANUSCRIPTS

## ANNEXURE

Annexure referred to in reply  to part (d) of  Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3132 dated 31.12.2018

The details of the amount of funds allocated and utilized during each of the last three years and the current year 2018-19

(Rupees in Lakhs)

| State            | Fund allotted & utilized in 2015-16   | Fund allotted & utilized in 2016-17   | Fund allotted & utilized in 2017-18   | Fund allotted in 2018-19   |
|------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|----------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh   | 9.50                                  | 37.35                                 | 29.8                                  | 10                         |
| Assam            | 4.50                                  | 7                                     | 4.9                                   | 7.5                        |
| Bihar            | 27.00                                 | 30.5                                  | 33.03                                 | 11.79                      |
| Delhi            |                                       | 9.5                                   |                                       | 2.5                        |
| Gujarat          |                                       | 2.5                                   |                                       | 2.5                        |
| Haryana          | 7.00                                  | 14                                    | 6.85                                  | 3.4                        |
| Himachal Pradesh | 14.00                                 | 19                                    | 25.98                                 | 7.5                        |
| Jammu & Kashmir  | 16.00                                 | 18                                    | 9.5                                   | 4.13                       |
| Karnataka        | 27.30                                 | 28                                    | 10                                    | 17.3                       |
| Kerala           | 21.00                                 | 23                                    | 10.5                                  | 16.41                      |
| Madhya Pradesh   | 7.00                                  | 7                                     | 4.5                                   | 4.3                        |
| Maharashtra      | 13.15                                 | 7                                     | 10.5                                  | 12                         |
| Manipur          | 7.50                                  | 7.5                                   | 12                                    | 5                          |
| Mizoram          | 3.50                                  | 0.49                                  | 8                                     | 7                          |
| Odisha           | 39.64                                 | 41.9                                  | 37.9                                  | 15                         |
| Punjab           |                                       |                                       | 5.00                                  |                            |
| Rajasthan        | 14.50                                 | 21.5                                  | 14.5                                  | 10                         |
| Sikkim           | 2.64                                  |                                       | 5                                     | 5                          |
| Tamilnadu        | 14.00                                 | 12                                    | 13.5                                  | 8.8                        |
| Tripura          | 2.50                                  | 10                                    |                                       |                            |
| Uttarpradesh     | 43.50                                 | 49.25                                 | 27.91                                 | 19.54                      |
| Uttarakhand      | 23.50                                 | 16.06                                 |                                       |                            |
| West Bengal      |                                       | 27.64                                 | 14.37                                 | 10                         |
|                  | 297.73                                | 389.19                                | 283.74                                | 179.67                     |

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