Lok Sabha Question No. 455 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-02
Subject: Gyan Bharatam Mission
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Shri Amar Sharadrao Kale

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CULTURE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 455 ANSWERED ON 02.02.2026

## GYAN BHARATAM MISSION

455. Dr. Shashi Tharoor :

Shri Amar Sharadrao Kale :

Will the Minister of Culture be pleased to state:

- (a)     the details of the "Gyan Bharatam" national initiative launched by the Government with the objective of preservation, digitization and dissemination of manuscript heritage of the country;
- (b)        the  list  of  all  institutions  that  have  signed  or  are  scheduled  to  sign  Memorandums  of Understanding  (MoU)  under  the  Gyan  Bharatam  Mission,  along  with  their  categorisation  as Cluster Centres or Independent Centres and the number of partner institutions assigned to each Cluster Center in the country, State/UT-wise especially in Kerala;
- (c)    the details of manuscripts that have been identified, catalogued, conserved, digitised and uploaded to the National Digital Repository (NDR) as of date under the Mission, State/UT and language-wise;
- (d)  the  details  of  the  Government  prescribed  quality  standards,  technical  benchmarks  and/or metadata  protocols  for  digitisation  and  cataloguing  under  the  Gyan  Bharatam  Mission;and
- (e) the details of the measure taken/being taken for the cataloguing, preservation and ensuring public access to manuscripts under the said mission?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF CULTURE AND TOURISM (SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

(a)    Gyan  Bharatam,  announced  during  Union  Budget  2025-26,  is  a  flagship  initiative  of  the Ministry  of  Culture  (MoC),  Government  of  India  aimed  at  unearthing,  safeguarding  and preserving India's vast manuscript heritage.  Aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, the initiative  seeks  to  harmonize  cultural  preservation  with  human  capital  development, ensuring that  India's  ancient  wisdom  continues  to  inspire  generations  to  come. To  support  the initiative, the Standing Finance Committee (SFC) has sanctioned Rs.491.66 crore for the period 2025-2031.  This  initiative  focuses  on  five  verticals  namely  (i)  Survey  and  Cataloguing  (ii)

Conservation  and  Capacity  Building  (iii)  Technology  and  Digitization  (iv)  Linguistics  and Translation (v) Research, Publication, and Outreach.

- (b)   Gyan Bharatam has been mandated to establish a nation-wide network of Cluster Centers (CCs) and Independent Centers (ICs) across the country. A list of CCs and ICs onboarded so far is annexed.
- (c)   More than 7.5 Lakh manuscripts have been digitized under Gyan Bharatam, Out of which, 1.29 Lakh manuscripts are available on Gyan Bharatam Portal i.e. https://gyanbharatam.com.
- (d)      The  Key  technical  and  quality  standards  and  metadata  protocols  for  digitization  and cataloguing of manuscripts are:
1.   Strict imaging norms to ensure preservation and high-quality digital outputs.
2. Minimum 400 DPI, 24-bit colour scanning (600 DPI where required) using non-destructive face-up overhead scanners with cold light.
3. Mandatory image post-processing includes de-skewing, cropping, light equalization, and the removal of digital 'noise' like worm-marks or stain-marks while maintaining color integrity and 100% manual quality verification.
4. Master files in TIFF v 6.0 (LZW compressed); access copies in JPEG; searchable copies in PDF/A with indelible watermark.
5. Long-term storage through LTO-9 tapes with cloud-based backup and disaster recovery.
6. Building a fully functional, AI-integrated digital platform and mobile application.
7. Metadata Capture levels: Descriptive metadata (content), Structural metadata (navigation), Technical metadata,  Administrative  metadata-incorporating manuscript  content details, details on original source, institutional details, locative region, language, script, conservation status, date of creation, version of digital object, file format used, compression technology used, object relationship, etc.
8. Metadata supplied in CSV and XML formats with each digitization batch.
- (e)  Following measures have been taken in this regard:
- (i)        45  Centers  have  been  onboarded  so  far  to  carry  out  the  activities  outlined  under  Gyan Bhatamam initiative on aforesaid five verticals.
- (ii)    20 States / UTs have also been onboarded so far to act as the Nodal Coordinating Authority for Gyan Bharatam implementation within the State / UT concerned.
- (iii)   A detailed manual on preservation and conservation has also been framed and shared with esteemed conservation experts for feedback.
- (iv)    Survey app has been developed and shared with stakeholders for feedback.

## (v)     Technical partners have been on boarded for:

-  Basic level metadata creation and its integration on National Digital Repository (NDR) and to facilitate  integration  of  manuscripts  and  its  metadata  for  global  accessibility  via NDR.
-  Deployment  of  scanners  &  equipments  to  be  deployed  across  designated  centres  for digitization of manuscripts.
-  Building a fully functional,  AI-integrated digital platform and mobile application.
-  Providing continuous hot, cold, cloud-based storage hosting, backup and security support.
-  Data storage using LTO-9 tape for long term archival and disaster recovery management.

## Annexure

| Cluster Centres (28)   | Cluster Centres (28)   | Cluster Centres (28)                                                                       |
|------------------------|------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No                  | State                  | Organization Name                                                                          |
| 1                      | Assam                  | Dept. of Sanskrit, Assam University, Silchar                                               |
| 2                      | Bihar                  | Nava Nalanda Mahavihar, Nalanda                                                            |
| 3                      | Bihar                  | Patna Musuem, Patna                                                                        |
| 4                      | Delhi                  | University Library Jamia Hamdard                                                           |
| 5                      | Delhi                  | Central Sanskrit University                                                                |
| 6                      | Gujarat                | Shruta Ratnakara, Ahmedabad                                                                |
| 7                      | Gujarat                | Oriental Institute, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara                  |
| 8                      | Himachal Pradesh       | Himachal State Museum, Shimla                                                              |
| 9                      | J&K                    | Dept. of Persian, University of Kashmir, Srinagar                                          |
| 10                     | J&K                    | Shasvat Art Gallery Jammu                                                                  |
| 11                     | Karnataka              | Samskriti Foundation, Mysuru                                                               |
| 12                     | Karnataka              | Oriental Research Institute, Mysuru                                                        |
| 13                     | Kerala                 | Oriental Research Institute & Manuscript Library, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram |
| 14                     | Ladakh                 | Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, Leh                                                 |
| 15                     | Manipur                | Manipur State Archives                                                                     |
| 16                     | Madhya Pradesh         | Department of Sanskrit, Dr. Hari Singh Gour University, Sagar                              |
| 17                     | Maharashtra            | Kavi Kulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University, Nagpur                                          |
| 18                     | Maharashtra            | Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune                                               |
| 19                     | Odisha                 | SARASVATI Bhadrak                                                                          |
| 20                     | Odisha                 | Department of Sanskrit, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar                                      |
| 21                     | Odisha                 | Rajasthan Sanskrit Academy, Jaipur                                                         |
| 22                     | Rajasthan              | Vishwa Gurudeep Ashram Shodha Sansthan, Jaipur                                             |
| 23                     | Sikkim                 | Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Gangtok                                                   |
| 24                     | Telangana              | Telangana State Archives &Research Institute, Hyderabad                                    |
| 25                     | Uttar Pradesh          | Vrindavan Research Institute, Vrindavan                                                    |

|   26 | Uttarakhand   | Shri Laxmidhar Acharya Chakradhar Joshi Vidyamandir Shodh Sansthan (SLACJVMSS), Nakshatra Vedhshala, Devprayag   |
|------|---------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|   27 | Uttarakhand   | University of Patanjali                                                                                          |
|   28 | West Bengal   | The Asiatic Society, Kolkata                                                                                     |

|   Independent Centres (17) | Independent Centres (17)   | Independent Centres (17)                                 |
|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
|                          1 | Andhra Pradesh             | Sanatan Jeevan Trust, Tirupati                           |
|                          2 | Bihar                      | Khuda Baksh Oriental Public Library, Patna               |
|                          3 | Bihar                      | Bodh Gaya Math, Gaya                                     |
|                          4 | Gujarat                    | Adhyatma Parivar Trust, Surat                            |
|                          5 | Haryana                    | Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra                      |
|                          6 | Karnataka                  | Tara Prakashan Vedic Library &Research Centre, Bangaluru |
|                          7 | Kerala                     | Sevadhi Museum &Ideological Research Institute, Kottayam |
|                          8 | Kerala                     | Chinmaya International Foundation, Ernakulam             |
|                          9 | Maharashtra                | Anandashram Samsthan, Pune                               |
|                         10 | Maharashtra                | Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal Sadashiv Peth, Pune      |
|                         11 | Madhya Pradesh             | Anekant Gyan Mandir Bina                                 |
|                         12 | Madhya Pradesh             | Scindia Oriental Research Institute, Ujjain              |
|                         13 | Rajasthan                  | Abhay Jain Granthalaya, Bikaner                          |
|                         14 | Rajasthan                  | Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute, Jodhpur           |
|                         15 | Rajasthan                  | Padmashri Narayan Das Pandulipi Shodh Sansthan, Jaipur   |
|                         16 | Uttar Pradesh              | Nagari Pracharini Sabha, Varanasi                        |
|                         17 | Uttar Pradesh              | Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Prayagraj                        |

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