Steps have been initiated to make the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) autonomous, with the Centre allocating nearly ₹500 crore over the next six years separately to the institution through a Special Finance Committee.
The NMM was established in February 2003 by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture. A unique project in its programme and mandate, the Mission seeks to unearth and preserve the vast manuscript wealth of India.
From this year, the NMM has been again put under a Central sector scheme. For Central sector schemes, all initiatives are wholly sponsored and implemented by the Central agencies.
The NMM was till now functioning as a part of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA). But for January to March, the funds for institutions were routed through the Sahitya Akademi.
The Special Finance Committee has allocated an amount of ₹491.66 crore to the body till 2031.
Budget proposal
However, sources said it was not yet clear whether the new ‘Gyan Bharatam Mission’ for manuscripts, announced in the Union Budget last week would be a part of the NMM or be a separate entity.
According to the Budget document, the Gyan Bharatam Mission intends to cover more than one crore manuscripts. It would undertake the “survey, documentation and conservation” of India’s manuscript heritage lying with academic institutions, museums, libraries, and private collectors, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her budget speech on February 1.
The Hindu had reported last October that the Union Ministry of Culture was set to “revive and relaunch” the NMM, and was mulling the formation of an autonomous body to help preserve ancient texts in India.
According to the Ministry of Culture, the NMM has documented around 5.2 million manuscripts across the country. It has conserved 90 million folios of manuscripts and digitised 3.5 lakh manuscripts that contain 3.5 crore number of pages.
