Lok Sabha Question No. 33 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-02-04
Subject: Digitisation of Manuscripts
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: VISHNU DAYAL RAM

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 33

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.02.2019 DIGITISATION OF MANUSCRIPTS

## 33: SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM:

Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  India has the largest collection of manuscripts in the world;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the present policy for the conservation/safety and digitization of manuscript heritage of the country;
- (c) the number of manuscripts documented, digitized 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)

- (a): Madam,  it  is  possible  that  India  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  39275570  folios  and  curative  conservation  of  3656863  folios  manuscripts  has been done till date. Digitization of 2.83 lakh manuscripts consisting of 2.93 crore pages of manuscripts 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 A.

*****

## 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)                  | (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                              | 14.29                    |
| 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                              | 11.77                    |
| Jammu& Kashmir   | 16.00                              | 18                                 | 9.5                                | 6.63                     |
| Karnataka        | 27.30                              | 28                                 | 10                                 | 21.3                     |
| 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                               | 5                        |
| Rajasthan        | 14.50                              | 21.5                               | 14.5                               | 13.13                    |
| Sikkim           | 2.64                               |                                    | 5                                  | 5                        |
| Tamilnadu        | 14.00                              | 12                                 | 13.5                               | 8.8                      |
| Tripura          | 2.50                               | 10                                 |                                    |                          |
| Uttarpradesh     | 43.50                              | 49.25                              | 27.91                              | 27.04                    |
| Uttarakhand      | 23.50                              | 16.06                              |                                    |                          |
| West Bengal      |                                    | 27.64                              | 14.37                              | 10                       |
|                  | 297.73                             | 389.19                             | 283.74                             | 208.57                   |