National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA)

NMMA was initially approved for a period of 5 years i.e. 2007 – 2012 in the 11th five-year plan with the objective to prepare a National database on Built Heritage and sites from secondary sources and a National database on Antiquities from different sources and museums.

It was extended for a further five years till 2017 and later merged with the ASI. 

Additional Information Objectives of National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA):

Documenting and creating a publicly accessible database about the geographical feature such as built heritage and sites for the dissemination of public information to planners, researchers, students, and individuals interested in such information.

Document information in a uniform format about all antiquities whether recorded or collected by the federal or state governments, private and public museums, libraries, and universities.

Promoting awareness aims to sensitize people to the benefits of preserving antiquities and historic sites significantly associated with historical records.

Extending facility and providing accommodation to the affiliated state departments, local bodies, communities, NGOs, universities, and museums.

Antiquities in India

What is Antiquity?

The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act of 1972, which came into effect on April 1, 1976, defines an "antiquity" as any object or work of art that has been in existence for at least 100 years.

This includes coins, sculptures, paintings, epigraphs, detached articles, and other items that reflect science, art, literature, religion, customs, morals, or politics from a bygone era.

For “manuscript, record or other document which is of scientific, historical, literary or aesthetic value”, this duration is “not less than 75 years.”

Protection Initiative

Indian

In India, Item-67 of the Union List, Item-12 of the State List, and Item-40 of the Concurrent List of the Constitution deal with the country’s heritage.

Before Independence, the Antiquities (Export Control) Act was passed in April 1947 to ensure that no antiquity could be exported without a license.

The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act was enacted in 1958 to protect ancient monuments and archaeological sites from destruction and misuse.

Global

UNESCO formulated the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.

The United Nations Security Council also passed resolutions in 2015 and 2016 calling for the protection of cultural heritage sites in conflict zones.

Procedure of Bringing Back the Antiquities

Categories

• Antiquities taken out of India pre-independence;
• Antiquities which were taken out since independence until March 1976;
• Antiquities have been taken out of the country since April 1976.
• For Antiquities taken out of India before independence, requests for their retrieval must be raised bilaterally or on international fora.

For example, in November 2022, the Maharashtra government announced that it was working to bring back the sword of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj from London.

Antiquities in the second and third categories can be retrieved easily by raising an issue bilaterally with proof of ownership and with the help of the UNESCO convention.

NATIONAL MISSIONS

1. National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA)

NMMA was initially approved for a period of 5 years i.e. 2007 – 2012 in the XI five year plan with the objective to prepare a National database on Built Heritage and sites from secondary sources and a National database on Antiquities from different sources and museums.

To sustain the momentum and to complete the remaining documentation work, the Finance Committee (SFC) recommended its extension as a central scheme with certain modifications (introduction of primary survey of built heritage and sites, strengthening infrastructure etc) under XII five year plan (2012 – 2017) with a budgetary outlay of Rs.99.20 crore in April 2013.

Policy document for documentation of antiquities was formulated by NMMA and the same has been adopted after its approval by the Monitoring Committee and Hon’ble Culture Minister.

2.National Mission on Manuscripts (NMM)

Initially National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) was established in 2003 for a period of five years, and subsequently it was given extension twice, the latest one given in 2012. Set up by the Government of India under the Ministry of Culture, the Mission has the mandate of identifying, documenting, conserving and making accessible the manuscript heritage of India. It is a national effort in the form of a mission for logical, radical and urgent response to a very contemporary challenge – of reclaiming the in heritance contained in manuscripts, often in a poor state of preservation.

India can rightfully claim to be the largest repository of manuscripts in the world.  It is not only the largest repository of literary heritage, but is also the forerunner in conservation efforts. National Mission for Manuscripts is first such national level comprehensive initiative in the world which caters to the need of conserving manuscripts and disseminating knowledge contained therein. NMM has covered a long distance since its inception in 2003 towards fulfilling its motto, ‘conserving the past for the future’. It works through a network of neary100 centres and 350 sub-centres, spread all over the country.

3.National Mission on Libraries:

Government of India has taken various initiatives to transform India into a knowledge based society. Public libraries have a major role to play in realizing this goal. In order to revamp the Public Library System & Services, and to provide digital content based services to the citizens at large, the Ministry of Culture has launched the scheme of National Mission on Libraries (NML).

Raja Rammohan Roy Library Foundation has been declared as the nodal agency for the National Mission on Libraries for administrative, logistic, planning and budgeting purposes.

The Scheme has the following four components:

• Creation of National Virtual Library (NVLI),
• Setting up of NML Model Libraries,
• Quantitative & Qualitative Survey,
• Capacity Building for library professionals.

4.Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission

In April, 2006, Government of India, constituted a Gandhi Heritage Sites (GHS) Panel headed by Shri Gopalkrishna Gandhi and, with eminent Gandhians.  Based on the recommendation of the Panel the “Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission” with a fixed term of 5 years was created in 2013. The Mission’s mandate is to preserve for posterity the identified sites and to supervise, guide and assist in conservation initiatives, maintenance or preservation initiatives and the creation of a database of tangible, literary and visual heritage associated with Gandhi.

The Mission Secretariat is headed by a Joint Secretary to Government of India who is ex- officio Secretary to the Mission.  The Mission is headquarter at New Delhi and in order to strengthen links with State Governments and to coordinate the implementation of the Mission’s projects, the Zonal Cultural Centers (North, South, East, West and Central Zone) under the Ministry of Culture, are associated with the Mission.  The Mission has started functioning from December, 2013 onwards.