With the Rs 400-crore Gyan Bharatam project, the government is aiming to create an institution on the lines of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for the preservation and interpretation of India’s manuscripts. “What ASI is for monuments, Gyan Bharatam will be for manuscripts,” said Union Culture Secretary Vivek Aggarwal, addressing reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday ahead of the launch of a three-day conference beginning in New Delhi on Thursday.
The first-ever international manuscript heritage conference — ‘Reclaiming India’s knowledge legacy through manuscript heritage’ — coincides with the 132nd anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s historic address at the Parliament of the World’s Religions held in Chicago in 1893.
The three-day event will be attended by around 1,100 participants, including conservation experts, scholars, historians, academics, and custodians of manuscripts across private collections, central and state organisations, universities and libraries. Eight working groups will deliberate on issues such as decipherment of ancient scripts such as Indus, Gilgit and Shankha; survey and documentation; digitisation tools; conservation and restoration; decoding manuscripts; and also explore legal and ethical issues regarding their access.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the event on September 12, and will be hearing all presentations of the working groups and will also address the gathering. Home Minister Amit Shah will chair the valedictory session on September 13, where a Delhi Declaration will be adopted, aiming to forge an alliance of all custodians of manuscripts across the country, for access, conservation and digitisation, officials said.
It was in the Union Budget 2025-26 that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a special mission for the survey, documentation, and conservation of India’s manuscript heritage. Officials say the initial outlay for the mission is estimated at Rs 400 crore, but since it’s not a time-bound project and will be institutionalised on the lines of the ASI, more funds can be allocated at a later stage.
Launched as the ‘Gyan Bharatam Mission’, it intends to cover more than one crore manuscripts, officials say, adding that while the project will be headquartered in New Delhi, as part of the Ministry of Culture, regional centres will be set up across all states to ensure seamless coordination.
Gyan Bharatam replaces the existing National Manuscripts Mission, which was launched in 2003, aiming to digitise all manuscripts in the country, but was moving at a slow pace.
