New Delhi, Jul 31 (PTI) With proactive support from all states, UTs, central government officials, and custodians, “over 1.2 crore manuscripts have been reported” under the Gyan Bharatam initiative, marking a remarkable national milestone, Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said on Friday.
In his address at the ‘National Digitisation Drive Workshop’, he called for sustaining the national momentum and emphasised the need to maintain the current pace of work.
Shekhawat also said that digitisation demands precision, discipline and collaboration, and stressed that preserving India’s knowledge systems with accuracy and integrity is a “national responsibility”.
The government on March 16 had kicked off a three-month nationwide survey for documentation, conservation and digitisation of the country’s manuscript heritage under the Gyan Bharatam initiative.
The exercise will be taken up to the district level across the country, officials had said.
Gyan Bharatam, announced in the Union Budget 2025-26, is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Culture, aimed at unearthing, safeguarding and preserving India’s vast manuscript heritage.
“India’s manuscript heritage spanning philosophy, Ayurveda, literature, mathematics, yoga, and diverse knowledge systems reflects the civilisational ethos of ‘jnaanam paramam dhyeyam’,” the minister was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the ministry.
To advance this legacy, the ministry convened the National Digitisation Drive Workshop at The Ashok under Gyan Bharatam, with participation from over 200 representatives of states and UTs, centres, custodians, scholars, experts, and technology partners, it said.
The Union minister said, “with proactive support from all states, UTs, ministry’s officials, centres and custodians, over 1.2 crore manuscripts have been reported, marking a remarkable national milestone”.
Union Culture Secretary Vivek Aggarwal emphasised on the need for a time-bound, systematic, and coordinated work with all stakeholders to ensure uniformity, quality assurance, and seamless integration across the country.
The workshop, structured around five core themes, reviewed national digitisation targets, standardised imaging and metadata practices, refined implementation strategies, showcased best-performing states, addressed operational challenges, and developed a coordinated roadmap for a unified, standards driven national digitisation framework, it said.
The ministry also showcased India’s “emerging National Digital Manuscript Ecosystem, supported by AI platforms” and a structured access policy framework. Recognising the fragility of many manuscripts, the ministry emphasised that conservation and digitisation will proceed simultaneously, with states and centres receiving funding to strengthen infrastructure, equipment, and trained manpower, it said. PTI KND MNK MNK
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