2 weeks ago
Committee urges technological overhaul for Gyan Bharatam manuscript mission
India has many very old books and documents, some written on dried palm leaves.
Many of them are fragile and could get damaged if people handle them too much.
The government started a big project called the Gyan Bharatam Mission to take pictures of these old documents so they can be preserved.
A group of important people called a parliamentary committee looked at how the project is going.
They said that just taking photos of the documents is not enough.
They want better technology so the words can also be read and searched.
They suggested that volunteers, universities, and scientists should help understand the old texts.
They also want the information to be free and open for everyone to use.
This way, India's old knowledge will stay safe for the future.
The parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture submitted a report saying that simply scanning manuscripts is not enough and called for an urgent technological overhaul of the Gyan Bharatam Mission.
The 2025-26 budget allocated Rs 491.66 crore over five years to digitise one crore manuscripts under the Gyan Bharatam Mission.
A national manuscript survey conducted between March and June 2026 recorded 2.25 crore manuscripts, of which 1.16 crore were verified and added to the national database.
The committee made 12 recommendations, including a national scientific department, a citizen transcription platform, and making public-funded page images and transcriptions available as a national training library.
The committee recommended extending the mission to oral heritage using speech recognition systems for Indian languages and a guardianship framework covering physical and digital heritage.
- Who
- Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Jha chaired the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, which submitted the report; the Ministry of Culture is the main recipient of the recommendations.
- What
- A parliamentary committee called for an urgent technological overhaul of the Gyan Bharatam Mission, proposing 12 recommendations to go beyond scanning and preserve India's manuscripts.
- Where
- India, covering manuscripts held in libraries, monasteries, temples, private collections and homes across the country.
- When
- Nearly a year after the Gyan Bharatam Mission was launched; the national manuscript survey was conducted between March and June 2026.
- Why
- To preserve India's fragile and scattered manuscript heritage by upgrading digitisation standards, building a transcription workforce, and making the knowledge openly usable for research.
Key facts
- Mission
- Gyan Bharatam Mission
- Report title
- From Manuscript to Mission: Preserving, Mapping and Sustaining India's Cultural Heritage in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
- Committee chairperson
- Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Jha
- Budget allocation
- Rs 491.66 crore for five years (2025-26 budget)
- Digitisation target
- One crore manuscripts
- Manuscripts recorded in national survey
- 2.25 crore (March-June 2026)
- Manuscripts verified and added to national database
- 1.16 crore
- Committee recommendations
- 12
Quotes
Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Jha
Chair of the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture
“‘Enlarge the digitisation standard into a complete capture standard, settled in consultation with scholars, scientists and custodians and in force before the contracts reach full scale,’ reads the committee’s report.”
theprint.in
Sources
Related news
Bihar Accelerates Manuscript Digitisation Under Gyan Bharatam Mission
National seminar spotlights scientific conservation of India's ancient manuscripts
Tamil Nadu Funds Heritage Preservation and Digital Tamil Initiatives
ASI Launches BharatSHRI Portal for Free Access to Digitised Inscriptions
Shatrughan Sinha Claims BJP IT Cell Paid Trolls Targeted Sonakshi
Census 2027 to Collect Caste, Aadhaar, Mobile and Bank Details
Shatrughan Sinha calls Prashant Kishor's Bankipur win a silver lining
MP Lunch Photos Spark Defection Speculation
