(a) the details and the number of rare manuscripts in possession of the Government and its associate bodies, State/ UT-wise;
(b) the number of cases of stolen manuscripts have been reported/lodged in the past decade;
(c) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to prevent theft of such rare manuscripts;
(d) whether the Government has maintained the digital copies of such manuscripts; and
(e) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR CULTURE &
MINISTER OF STATE FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST & CLIMATE CHANGE
(DR. MAHESH SHARMA)
(a) National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) is engaged in documentation of Indian manuscripts. The documentation of manuscripts is done without any distinction between rare and common manuscripts. The manuscripts are possessed by the owners of the manuscripts. The National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) obtains manuscripts data in soft copies from the Manuscripts Resource Centres (MRCs) established in State Archives, Universities, Institutions having large deposits of manuscripts. The soft copy of metadata furnished by the MRCs is restored in NMM server and after verification of data it is uploaded on the website of NMM.
(b) During the last decade only one case was reported.
(c) As per the provisions of Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972 administered by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), the cases of stolen manuscripts are dealt with.
(d) Yes, Madam.
(e) Till date NMM has documented 43 lakh manuscripts (including rare manuscripts) and digitized 2.85 lakh manuscripts containing 2.95 crore pages which are stored in DVDs and hard disks.
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