Lok Sabha Question No. 5898 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-30
Subject: Digitisation of Caches of Rare Manuscripts
Ministry: CULTURE
Asked by: Shri Kalyan Banerjee

5898. Shri Kalyan Banerjee:

Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of digitisation of several caches of rare manuscripts across the country for protecting and documenting textual heritage under the scheme of manuscript digitization taken so far, since 2016, category-wise;
- (b) the  details  of  number  of  selection  of  manuscripts  taken  for  digitization  and  completed  so  far  till January 2026; and
- (c) the detail of the budget sanctioned and allocated thereon, since 2016-17 to 2025-26, year-wise?

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

(a) to (c) Under the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM), during 2003-2024, 3.50 lakh manuscripts were digitized. In addition, Gyan Bharatam Mission (GBM), announced during Union Budget 2025-26, is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Culture (MoC), Government of India to undertake manuscripts related activities under various components including survey and registration of manuscripts, building robust technology infrastructure and partnership, documentation, preservation, conservation, digitization,  publication  of  manuscripts  and  capacity  building &  research. Under  this  Mission, digitization of manuscripts has been undertaken, on pan-India basis, through onboarded States and Union Territories  (UTs),  centers,  universities,  libraries,  museums,  temples,  mutts  etc.  using  standardized protocols, creation of metadata and integration into National Digital Repository (NDR), enabling longterm preservation and public accessibility. More than 8 lakh digitized manuscripts in different formats such as DVD, HDD, microfilms are available across the country, out of which, 1.29 lakh manuscripts are accessible, at present, in view mode, to the public on the  Gyan Bharatam Portal i.e. https://gyanbharatam.com.    The  year-wise  budget  sanctioned  and  allocated  thereon  since  2016-17  to 2025-26 is as under:

| Financial Year   | Sanctioned Budget (In Cr.)                                                                                                | Actual Expenditure (In Cr.)   |
|------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| 2016-17          | 12.00                                                                                                                     | 5.88                          |
| 2017-18          | 5.50                                                                                                                      | 4.78                          |
| 2018-19          | 12.00                                                                                                                     | 8.87                          |
| 2019-20          | 3.41                                                                                                                      | 3.33                          |
| 2020-21          | 4.17                                                                                                                      | 3.69                          |
| 2021-22          | During this period, the activities of NMM were carried out as                                                             | 5.77                          |
| 2022-23          | part of the 'Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts'                                                                  | 5.52                          |
| 2023-24          | (IGNCA) overall programmes as NMM was rationalized and it was envisaged to source the its fund requirement through IGNCA. | 5.05                          |
| 2024-25          | 3.50                                                                                                                      | 2.63                          |
| 2025-26          | 15.00                                                                                                                     | 13.39 (as on date)            |

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5898 ANSWERED ON 30.03.2026

## Digitisation of Caches of Rare Manuscripts