National Mission for Manuscripts: Autonomy and ₹491.66 Crore Funding
Why in the news
The government is upgrading the National Mission for Manuscripts into an autonomous body with a big funding boost, to strengthen preservation and digitisation of manuscripts.
Key facts
- Funding: ₹491.66 crore sanctioned up to 2031; NMM, once a unit of IGNCA, now falls under a Central sector scheme with full central funding.
- Origin: established in 2003 by the Ministry of Culture; a National Manuscripts Authority is to be formed.
- Estimate: about 10 million manuscripts in India.
Objectives
| Area | Work |
|---|---|
| Survey | National-level survey and follow-up |
| Documentation | National Electronic Database, billed as the world’s largest |
| Conservation | Modern and traditional methods; training conservators |
| Studies | Training in scripts, languages, editing, cataloguing |
| Digitisation | Rare, endangered manuscripts made accessible |
| Outreach | Lectures, seminars, publications; 100+ resource and conservation centres |
Gyan Bharatam Mission
- Announced in a Union Budget to cover over one crore manuscripts held by institutions, museums, libraries and private owners.
- Unclear whether it will sit within NMM or stand apart.
Exam angle
- Nodal ministry: Culture; related body: IGNCA.