Law on protection of Indian manuscripts

ChinmayaIAS Academy - Current Affairs August 16, 2023 GS2, Indian Judiciary Leave a comment 154 Views

TOPICS COVERED: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary—Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.

Context:

The government is planning to introduce the National Manuscripts Bill, 2023

Key details:

What is a manuscript?

A manuscript is a handwritten composition on paper, bark, cloth, metal, palm leaf or any other material dating back at least seventy-five years that has significant scientific, historical or aesthetic value.
Lithographs and printed volumes are not manuscripts.
Manuscripts are distinct from historical records such as epigraphs on rocks, firmans, revenue records which provide direct information on events or processes in history.
Manuscripts have knowledge content.
While 75% of the existing Indian manuscripts are in Sanskrit, 25% are in regional languages

Need for the law:

The Bakhshali manuscript, an ancient Indian mathematical text written on birch bark, is considered to be the earliest recorded example of the use of zero.
The seminal text, dating back roughly to the third or fourth century AD, is in one of the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford
Many other Indian manuscripts lie in libraries across the globe or are with private collectors, both in India and abroad.

Aim of the law:

The primary aim of the Bill is to:

document and catalogue Indian heritage texts wherever they may be and in India or abroad,
maintain accurate and up-to-date information about them, and
detail the conditions under which they may be consulted.

National Manuscripts Authority:

The Bill envisages setting up a 10-member National Manuscripts Authority (NMA).
While the Culture Minister will be the Chairperson of this body, the members will include:
the Secretaries of Culture, Finance and Education,
the Vice-Chancellor of Central Sanskrit University,
special invitees representing the States, and
private agencies
The National Manuscripts Authority will be the apex policy-making body with regard to digitisation, conservation, preservation, editing, and publication work of manuscripts.
The NMA will have the powers of a civil court to regulate the allocation of access to manuscripts and will also have an investigation wing for the purpose of conducting an inquiry into thefts and desecration of texts.
It will also ensure that the manuscripts are not lost by damage or theft.
It can collaborate with universities and other educational institutions or agencies to provide fellowships and scholarships for study of manuscripts.
The NMA will also prepare a dedicated digital portal for indexing, cataloguing, uploading, and downloading copies of manuscripts.
The special body will be vested with the right to take over a manuscript from a private owner based on the uniqueness and the importance of the content.