Lok Sabha Question No. 2774 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-03
Subject: Hamari Dharohar Scheme
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: KANWAR SINGH TANWAR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2774 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.08.2016

## Hamari Dharohar Scheme

## 2774. SHRI KANWAR SINGH TANWAR:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) Whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  despite  the  initiation  of  Hamari  Dharohar Scheme,  no  substantial  work  has  taken  place  putting  rich  heritage  of  minority communities in serious danger;
- (b) if so, the reaction of the Government thereon;
- (c) the details of the funds allocated, released and utilized for the Scheme as well as for any other programmes and schemes run for preservation of heritage belonging to minority communities during each of the last three years and the current year, State-wise; and
- (d) the details of projects approved and their current status along with beneficiaries reached through fellowships and other sub-programmes under the Hamari Dharohar Scheme in the country, State-wise including West Bengal?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)

- (a) to (d):  Ministry of Minority Affairs formulated a new scheme 'Hamari Dharohar' for preservation of rich heritage and culture of minority communities of India in 2014-15. The scheme aims to support curation of iconic exhibitions, calligraphy, preservation of old  documents,  research  and  development,  etc.  Under  this  scheme,  the  funding  is project  based,  not  the  State-wise  or  District-wise.  Following  two  important  projects have been taken up under the scheme:
1. An iconic exhibition of Parsis i.e. 'The Everlasting Flame International Programme' to showcase  the  civilization  and  culture  of  the  Parsis  (Zoroastrians).  This    involved curating  3  travelling  exhibitions  on  Parsi  Culture  namely,  'The  Everlasting  Flame'; 'Threads of Continuity'; and 'Painted Encounters, Parsi Traders and Community & No Parsi is an Island', during March-May, 2016 at the National Museum (NM), National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) and Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) at New Delhi. The exhibitions were inaugurated on 19 th March 2016 which continued till 29 th May, 2016.
2. Ministry  has  also  sanctioned  a  project  to  Dairatul  Maarifil  Osmania  (an  institution established in 1888 AD), Osmania University, Telangana, for translation from Arabic language  into  English,  digitization  and  re-printing  of  240  invaluable  documents belonging  to  Medieval  period  on  the  subjects  of  Medicines,  Mathematics,  Literature, etc. The  project implementation has already started with State  Government  of Telangana and the said institution. Four (4) documents, one each on Medical Science,

Philosophy of Debates, Metaphysics and Music, have already been translated, digitized and printed.

Under 'Hamari Dharohar' scheme, the funding started from 2015-16 only. Rs. 10.01 Crore  budget  was  allocated  for  2015-16  and  full  amount  was  released/utilized  by  the Ministry. There was no release for Fellowship component under the scheme of Hamari Dharohar. During 2016-17, Rs. 11.00 Crore has been earmarked under the scheme and Rs. 3.12 Crore have already been released.

Further, another new scheme of the Ministry, 'USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/ Crafts for Development)' was formulated in 2014-15. The scheme aims at setting standards for traditional skills, design development, documentation, capacity building and updating the traditional skills of master craftsmen and  artisans.  The  scheme  is  implemented  directly  by  the  Ministry  through  selected Knowledge Partners and Project Implementing Agencies. Funds are not released to the State Governments. The details of funds earmarked and released/utilized since inception of the scheme are as follows:

(Rs. In crore)

| Year    | Budget Estimate   | Revised Estimate   |   Funds Released/ Utilized |
|---------|-------------------|--------------------|----------------------------|
| 2014-15 | --                | 0.50               |                       0.44 |
| 2015-16 | 17.01             | 17.01              |                      16.9  |
| 2016-17 | 20.00             | -                  |                       0    |

*****