Global conference on India's manuscript heritage kicks off on September 11, PM Modi to attend on Day 2

New Delhi: A three-day international conference that aims to build an "alliance of all custodians" of old manuscripts in India and eventually create a country-wide ecosystem for their preservation and knowledge dissemination under the aegis of Gyan Bharatam project is set to begin here on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the conference on its second day and also deliver an address, Union Culture Secretary Vivek Aggarwal said on Wednesday.

Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will inaugurate the event to be hosted at the Vigyan Bhawan and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be the chief guest at the valedictory session on the last day.

Among the significant outcomes envisaged is the adoption of the 'New Delhi Declaration on Manuscript Heritage', the formation of expert working groups for decipherment, conservation, translation, digital archiving and long-term institutional linkages for national and international collaboration, the Culture Ministry earlier said.

The culture secretary, at a press interaction held at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) here, said the conference aims to "create an implementable strategy for Gyan Bharatam".

Designed as a comprehensive framework, Gyan Bharatam will revive India's manuscript legacy by combining preservation, digitisation, scholarship and global accessibility, the ministry said.

"Its objectives include identification and documentation through a nationwide register, conservation and restoration of fragile texts, large-scale digitisation using AI-driven tools and creation of a National Digital Repository," it said in a statement.

Aggarwal said while the word mission might suggest a time-bound period, Gyan Bharatam is actually a long-term vision, as heritage protection of manuscripts "cannot be a limited-period exercise".

"It has to be a continuous work. It should be like the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India), which stays for longer duration," he added.

The ministry said Gyan Bharatam will also focus on research, translation and publication of "rare manuscripts", capacity building for scholars and conservators, development of digital platforms and public participation through collaborative programmes.

"Further, global partnerships and integration of manuscript wisdom into education will strengthen India's role in global knowledge exchange," it said.

The purpose of this conference is to build "an alliance of all custodians of manuscripts". The rich heritage possessed by all types of institutions and even private collectors and this building up of a consensus among them will reflect in the 'New Delhi Declaration', he said.

The event aims at revitalising the civilisational continuum embedded within the manuscripts. India has one of the richest collections of ancient manuscripts in the world, with nearly 10 million texts that hold the country's traditional knowledge and cultural heritage.

The government has launched the Gyan Bharatam Mission as a major initiative under the Ministry of Culture. It aims to survey, document, conserve, digitise and make accessible more than one crore manuscripts located at academic institutions, museums, libraries and private collections across India.

As part of this initiative, the ministry is organising the first-ever international conference on "Reclaiming India's Knowledge Legacy through Manuscript Heritage" from September 11-13.

The event aims to bring together scholars, experts, institutions and cultural practitioners to support the mission's goals of preserving, digitising, decoding and sharing India's ancient wisdom, the officials said.

"In front of the prime minister, there will be presentations by different groups. These groups were created to study different aspects like the digitalisation, conservation, legal framework, deciphering of manuscripts and the use of latest technologies like AI and machine learning. So, these groups will be presenting before the PM. And, the Prime Minister will address a session," Sachchidanand Joshi, Member Secretary, IGNCA, told PTI.

Over 1,100 participants from across the country are attending the conference. The participants include more than 95 academics, 22 government and private administrators, 179 professionals, 112 research scholars, 230 students and over 400 individuals from various other fields, according to a document shared by the ministry.

Besides, a pan-India competition, Gyan Setu, was organised to attract young entrepreneurs who are working in the area of Al and Machine Learning, and who could be instrumental in decoding and deciphering manuscripts, Joshi said.

"We got a phenomenal response, and from about 40 entries, we selected 10 bright ones," he said.

Aggarwal said the eventual plan is to create a "hub-and-spoke model" wherein the Gyan Bharatam in New Delhi will be the main hub and the vision is to have regional centres in every state and UT.

These regional centres could be any institution, public or private or otherwise, with an expertise in the field and resources, and various existing important institutions will serve as institutions of excellence, he said.

The idea is "not to create another (layer) of bureaucracy" but work in conjunction with existing institutions, and the conference will build that consensus and alliance among the stakeholders, and draw from knowledge of experts towards the aim of conservation, preservation, digitisation and dissemination of knowledge embedded in them, he said.