India Plans Revamp for Manuscripts Preservation

In October 2024, the Union Ministry of Culture held a meeting to revitalize the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) by proposing an independent National Manuscripts Authority to improve preservation efforts of India’s ancient texts.

Key Points

Formation of Autonomous Body: The Ministry is considering establishing an autonomous National Manuscripts Authority under its jurisdiction to take over from the NMM, currently operating under the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.
Current Preservation Achievements: The NMM has created metadata for 52 lakh manuscripts and digitized over 3 lakh titles, though only a fraction of these are publicly accessible due to data mismatches and limited policy support for private owners.
Challenges with Accessibility: Although 1.3 lakh manuscripts have been uploaded, only 70,000 are viewable due to the absence of a defined access policy, which is crucial as 80% of manuscripts in India are held by private entities.
Conservation Efforts: The NMM reported that it has undertaken both preventive and curative conservation measures for approximately 9 crore folios over the past 21 years.
Future Plans for Global Collaboration: There are proposals to establish academic chairs in international universities with ancient Indian studies departments to enhance global scholarly collaboration with the NMM.
Recommendations for Legal Safeguards: Experts suggested including intellectual property rights and legal experts in the authority to prevent illegal sales and to help financially support private owners in the preservation of their manuscripts.