Lok Sabha Question No. 2191 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-05
Subject: Indian Conservation Fellowship Program (ICFP)
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: Shri Gaurav Gogoi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2191 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.08.2024

## INDIAN CONSERVATION FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM (ICFP) 2191. SHRI GAURAV GOGOI:

Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to state:

- (a) the details about the number of Fellowships awarded annually from the inception of the Indian Conservation Fellowship Programme till date, State-wise;
- (b) details of  the number of fellows who have successfully implemented conservation projects to date;
- (c) whether the Government has evaluated the impact of the programme on capacity building within Indian museums;
- (d) if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the Government has any plans to expand the programmes reach and make it more accessible to a wider range of conservation professionals across the country, especially those from the northeast regions; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF CULTURE&TOURISM (SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

- (a)& (b):The Indian Conservation Fellowship Pilot Program (ICFPP) was undertaken by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) in New York and the StichtingRestauratie Atelier Limbuirg (SRAL), the

Netherlands.  A  Memorandum  of  Agreement  (MoA)  was  signed  between Ministry of Culture, Government of India and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA), New York on 19.03.2013 for a period of two years.

Thereafter,  an  Memorandum  of  Understanding  (MoU)  between  Ministry  of Culture  and  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  (MMA), New  York  was  signed  on 27.06.2016  for  launching  of  the Indian  Conservation  Fellowship  Program (ICFP) for a period from 2016 to 2021 was to be undertaken by the Ministry of  Culture  in  collaboration with  the  Metropolitan  Museum  Art(MMA),  New York,  the  StichtingRestauratie  Atelier  Limbuirg  (SRAL),  the  Netherlands,  the Royal  Institute  for  Cultural  Heritage,  Brussels  ('KIK-IRPA'),  and  the  Freer Gallery  of  Art  and  Arthur  M.  Sackler  Gallery,  The  Smithsonian  Museums  of Asian  Art,  Washington,  DC  ('FG')  with  support  from  the  Andrew W.  Mellon Foundation (the 'Mellon Foundation').

So far, 36 conservators from India have received fellowship under ICFP (17 conservators during Pilot Program and 19 conservators during Main Program).  Details are attached at Annexure-I.

- (c) to (f):Yes, Sir. The aim of this fellowship was to equip the participants with skills to better care for collections at their home institutions and to establish a larger and  stronger  conservation  community  in  India  with  international  links  to professionals in the field.

This Fellowship programme has achieved significant capacity building in the areas  of  conservation  skills,  knowledge  sharing,  networking,  leadership development,  institutional  capacity,  community  engagement,  research  and documentation, standardization of projects, mentorship and career advancement. By achieving there capacity building outcomes, the ICFP has made significant impact on the conservation of India's cultural heritage.

Some of the other important benefits to the museums from the skill acquired during the fellowships are as under:

- -Reorganising the photographic collection.
- -Exhibition support
- -Developing research
- -Resource centre
- -Improving disaster recovery procedures
- -Empowering staff
- -Channels of communication

An  MoU  between  Ministry  of  Culture  and  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art (MMA), New  York  was  signed  on  27.06.2016  for  the Indian  Conservation Fellowship Program (ICFP) for a period from 2016 to 2021 only.

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## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (A)&(B) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2191 FOR 05.08.2024

## List of Fellows who have completed fellowship under Indian Conservation Fellowship Pilot Program (2013-15)

| S.NO.                 | Name                                                   | Affiliation   | Host                                  | Period                          |
|-----------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|---------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| Abdur Rasheed         | IGNCA                                                  | MMA           | Dec 9, 2013- Mar 31, 2014) (4 months) | 1.                              |
| 2 Ambika Patel        | The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda            | MMA           |                                       | Apr 1 - Jul 31, 2015 (4 months) |
| Kailas Abhiman Humane | Salar Jung Museum                                      | MMA           | Aug 1 - Oct 31, 2014 (3 months)       | 3.                              |
| Kalpana Awasthi       | Salar Jung Museum                                      | MMA           | Jul 1 - Sept 2015 (3 months)          | 4.                              |
| Mandira Chhabra       | CSMVS/Himalayan Soc. for Heritage and Art Conservation | MMA           | Apr 1 - Sept 30, 2014 (6 months)      | 5.                              |
| Nidhi Shah            | CSMVS                                                  | MMA/ SRAL     | Fall 2014 (2 months)                  | 6.                              |
| Shilpa Raturi         | Archaeological Survey of India                         | MMA           | Apr 1 - Sept 30, 2014 (6 months)      | 7.                              |
| Subhra Devi           | Museum of Tezpur University                            | MMA           | Sept 1 - Feb 28, 2015 (6 or 4 months) | 8.                              |
| Vikram Singh Rathore  | Mehrangarh Fort Museum                                 | MMA           | Jan - March 2015 (3 months)           | 9.                              |
| Anil Dwivedi          | Formerly IGNCA                                         | SRAL          | Jan - June 2014 (6 months)            | 10                              |
| Anil Verma            | IGNCA                                                  | SRAL          | Mar - May 2015 (3 months)             | 11.                             |
| Diwakar Karmaker      | VMH                                                    | SRAL          | Jan - June 2015 (6 months)            | 12                              |
| Minesh Harinkhede     | NRLC Lucknow                                           | SRAL          | Oct 2014 - March 2015 (6 months)      | 13.                             |
| Omkar Mohan Kadu      | CSMVS                                                  | SRAL          | Apr- July 2014 (3 months)             | 14.                             |
| Shikha Bansal         | NMI                                                    | SRAL          | Oct - Dec 2013 (3 months)             | 15.                             |
| Shruti Asoka          | Coimbatore                                             | SRAL          | Sept - Dec 2014 (4 months)            | 16.                             |
| Umesh Kumar Ahuja     | Rashtrapati Bhavan                                     | SRAL          | Oct - Dec 2013 (3 months)             | 17.                             |

List of 1st batch of the fellowship under ICFP

|   S.No. | Name                  | Affiliation     | Host   | Period                   |
|---------|-----------------------|-----------------|--------|--------------------------|
|       1 | Ms. Vandana Singh     | National Museum | MMA    | 01.02.2017 - 31.07.2027  |
|       2 | Shri PareetNagamurthi | INTACH          | MMA    | 01.02.2017 - 30..04.2017 |
|       3 | Ms. Merrin Anil       | INTACH          | SRAL   | 03.04.2017 - 16.09.2017  |
|       4 | Shri Vipin Joshi      | NGMA, New Delhi | SRAL   | 29.05.2017 - 19.08.2017  |

List of 2 nd batch of the fellowship under ICFP

|   S. No. | Name                      | Affiliation                               | Host   | Period                  |
|----------|---------------------------|-------------------------------------------|--------|-------------------------|
|        1 | Mr. Subir Dey             | VMH, Kolkata                              | FG     | 01.02.2018 - 31.05.2018 |
|        2 | Mr. Dilip Mestry          | CSMVS, Mumbai                             | MMA    | 01.04.2018 - 30.06.2018 |
|        3 | Mr. Nikhil Ramesh         | CSMVS, Mumbai                             | MMA    | 01.04.2018 - 30.06.2018 |
|        4 | Mr. Jitender Chauhan      | IGNCA, New Delhi                          | SRAL   | 01.10.2017 - 31.01.2018 |
|        5 | Mr. Rahul Tongaria        | NGMA, New Delhi                           | SRAL   | 01.03.2018 - 30.06.2018 |
|        6 | Ms. Madhu Rani Puttaswamy | INTACH Conservation Institutes, Bangalore | SRAL   | 01.03.2018 - 30.06.2018 |
|        7 | Mr. Lalit Kumar           | INTACH, New Delhi                         | SRAL   | 28.08.2017 - 26.02.2018 |

List of 3 rd batch of the fellowship under ICFP

|   S. No. | Name                            | Affiliation                 | Host   | Period                  |
|----------|---------------------------------|-----------------------------|--------|-------------------------|
|        1 | Mr. Pradip Madhumita Vasundhara | City Palace Museum, Udaipur | MMA    | 01.02.2019 - 31.07.2019 |
|        2 | Azhar Syed Tariq                | Rampur Raza Library         | FG     | 01.02.2019 - 31.05.2019 |
|        3 | Shyama Prasad Datta             | NGMA (Delhi)                | SRAL   | 01.03.2019 - 30.06.2019 |
|        4 | Mohd. Galib                     | INTACH                      | SRAL   | 01.10.2018 - 28.02.2019 |
|        5 | Sarvesh Singh                   | Reserve Bank of India       | MMA    | 01.02.2019 - 30.04.2019 |

## List of 4 th batch of the fellowship under ICFP

|   S. No. | Name                 | Affiliation                               | Host   | Period                                |
|----------|----------------------|-------------------------------------------|--------|---------------------------------------|
|        1 | Ms. Mrinalini Mani   | INTACH Conservation Institutes, Bangalore | SRAL   | 4 months started in November, 2019    |
|        2 | Ms. Baisakhi Mallick | VMH, Kolkata                              | SRAL   | 4 months started in March/April, 2020 |
|        3 | Ms. Nalini Biluka    | INTACH Conservation Institutes, Bangalore | SRAL   | 4 months started in March/April, 2020 |

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