Govt to coserve monuments on mission mode

New Delhi, Mar 19 (UNI) Languishing in monumental neglect for centuries, India's vast treasures of built heritage and priceless antiquities are now to get increased governmental attention with the Culture Ministry launching a national mission for their systematic preservation for posterity.

'The National Mission on Monuments and Antiquties' would create a data base in the next five years to act as an authentic knowlege pool for sustained preservation of monuments, a majority of which are unprotected, and antiquarian remains, which continue to be smuggled out or stolen.

Launching the Mission, under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Culture Minister Ambika Soni said only a fraction of thousands of monuments were now protected either by the ASI or the state governments.

The mission was announced by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari VAjpayee in his Independence Day address in 2003.

As many as 3,667 monuments and sites are under the direct conservation of the ASI throughout the country, while more than 4,000 monuments are maintained by the state archaeological departments.

The mission would identify important unprotected monuments, many of which are being used for anti-social activities, and work out a strategy to protect them.

Ms Soni said the tourism ministry had already requested the government to include heritage conservation in the list of works a member of Parliament could undertake in his constituency with the MPs Local Area Development Fund (MPLAD).

"If one member of Parliament could earmark a small portion of his annual grant of Rs two crore under the MPLAD scheme, it would go a long way in finding a substantial amount for conservation activities." She said a sum of Rs 90 crore had been sanctioned for the five-year mission project. The core infrastructure created under the mission would be integrated with the ASI's operations.

"The mandate of the mission is to prepare a NationalRegister of Built Heritage, Sites and Antiquities," ASI Director General Babu Rajeev said.

He said the mission would activate the archaeological apparatus in states in creating a systematic, accessible and retrievable inventory of the built heritage, sites and antiquarian heritage of the country.

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