India's Manuscript Digitization & Heritage Preservation
The Government of India informed the Lok Sabha on August 11 that, since 2003, over 350,000 manuscripts have been digitized. In a written reply to a question, Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat also mentioned that 92 manuscript preservation centers have been established so far, out of which 42 are currently operational.
The Minister was asked whether the government plans to organize the first International Manuscript Heritage Conference titled "Reclaiming India's Knowledge Heritage Through Manuscripts" in memory of Swami Vivekananda's Chicago Address (11th September 1893) as part of the 'Knowledge Bharatam Mission' in September 2025. He outlined the conference's main themes and areas of focus, including:
- Decoding ancient scripts: Indus, Gilgit, and Shankh
- Survey, documentation, metadata standards, and digital archiving
- Manuscript science and archival science, codicology
- Digitization tools, platforms, and protocols (HTR, AI, IIIF)
- Manuscript preservation and restoration
- Decoding manuscripts: Pathways to the Indian Knowledge System
- Manuscripts as tools of cultural diplomacy
- Legal and ethical frameworks for manuscript preservation and access
In his response, the Union Culture Minister also stated that since 2003, a total of 350,000 manuscripts have been digitized. Furthermore, 92 manuscript preservation centers have been established, of which 42 are operational. Additionally, there are 93 manuscript resource centers, 37 of which are currently active.