Editorial 1: Protecting protected monuments
Recent Context:
- Recently, a parliamentary committee has recommended that the Centrally protected monuments (CPM) list should be “rationalised and categorised” on the basis of their national significance, unique architectural and heritage value.
- Besides, it has also raised questions about the functioning of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the custodian of all CPMs in India, in terms of its administration, security, restoration work and general upkeep of heritage sites. Recommendation made by committee
Rationalizing the list of protected monuments
- The committee said the list includes a large number of minor monuments with no national significance. It is estimated that this applies to at least a quarter of the current list of 3,691 monuments.
- In this regard, it says the list includes 75 graves of colonial-era soldiers or officials of no notable importance.
- This approach is in keeping with the government’s decolonisation agenda. As monuments selected by the British or those that glorify the colonial era would be taken out of the CPM list, while several other monuments that “reflect Indian ethos” will be included.
- The committee recommends that the list of monuments with ASI should be rationalised and categorised on the basis of their national significance, unique architectural value and specific heritage content
Easing restrictions around monuments
- The committee said the provision of a 100-metre prohibited area and 300-metre regulated area around all ASI-protected monuments leads to public inconvenience.
- This provision was introduced in 2010 through an amendment in the AMASR Act, 1958, and prohibits and regulates all activities like mining and construction around 100 metres and 300 metres of all the protected monuments.
- This, the panel said, causes problems for the local community living around it. In some cases, the entire village is within a radius of 300 metres, which makes it difficult for the village to repair their residential houses. Such a situation, at many places, creates a hostile scenario
- The panel said the same rule applies equally to both significant and insignificant monuments. For instance, the rules above apply identically to the Ajanta and Ellora monuments as much as to cemeteries and tombs.
Fixing ASI’s core mandate
- The committee said that preservation of a monument or a site is a core mandate of the ASI and recommended the central agency to develop preservation plans for all its work, especially before excavations.
- This includes establishing clear strategies for documenting findings, conserving artefacts, and restoring structures to ensure minimal impact on the site’s integrity.
- The ASI should focus on areas that have the potential to answer crucial historical questions and contribute to a deeper understanding of India’s rich past.
- Alternatively, to make the ASI an effective agency, it advised bifurcation of the organisation.
- While the ASI can look after the core mandate – exploration, excavation and conservation aspects, the India Heritage Development Corporation (IHDC) can deal with ASI’s revenue, such as ticket collection, conducting auctions, issuing licences, running cafeterias, selling mementoes and running sound and light systems.
Adopting of advance technology by ASI for better findings:
- It also advocated the use of advanced technologies such as LiDAR, ground-penetrating radar, and 3D scanning enhanced accuracy and efficiency of excavations.
- Some of these techniques were recently used inside the Gyanvapi complex in Varanasi by the ASI for its court-mandated non-invasive survey, the report of which is yet to be made public.
What happens to missing monuments?
- The committee said that the CAG had declared 92 CPMs as “missing”. The ASI has located only 42 of these monuments, while the remaining 50 monuments are either affected by rapid urbanisation, submerged under reservoirs/dams or are untraceable.
- .The ASI should, therefore, give the highest priority to ensuring the physical security of all CPMs across the country.
- It recommended that the ministry may conduct a survey of all remaining monuments to ensure their physical existence and safety.
- It also recommended that regular physical surveys of all CPMs should be carried out from time to time. The ASI should maintain digital log books that include textual and photographic/ video records of the monument’s physical state and location coordinates.
Shortage of resources, fund crunch
- The agency stated that as far as conservation work is concerned, there is an issue of shortage of human resources.
- The Ministry of Culture, under whose aegis the ASI functions, said it is finding ways and means to acquire human resources by outsourcing some work. However, the ASI expressed that this has its own limitations as such expertise is not available even outside.
- The panel said India spends “a little amount” on the protection and upkeep of monuments. “It amounts to Rs 11 lakh per monument of national importance (Rs 428 crore for 3693 monuments in 2019-20),” it noted, adding that this is precious little for a culturally rich country like India.
Problems with restoration activities
- The committee also said that there are certain places where restoration is being done without taking cognizance of the original design/beauty of the monument.
- In this regard, it said the ASI must undertake restoration work keeping the original structure, its relevance and aesthetics in mind while adopting “indigenous systems and traditional practices”.
- It said that the ASI should integrate sustainable practices in conservation and restoration projects, such as using eco-friendly materials, energy-efficient techniques, and taking into consideration the long-term environmental impact of interventions.
- In its response, the ASI said it has undertaken major conservation works at various locations across the country, including the
- Hoysala Temples in Karnataka (which has just been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and
- Santiniketan in West Bengal (another recent WH site).
- The ASI informed the panel that it had undertaken conservation measures in foreign countries – such as Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan; Ta Prohm and Preah Vihear temples in Cambodia; My Son Group of Temples in Vietnam; and Friday Mosque in Maldives.
- It informed the panel that the works outside India have been widely appreciated by the international community and the authorities in Fayaztepa and Karatepa Buddhist Sites in Uzbekistan are interested in giving their conservation work to ASI.
On Government’s ‘Adopt a Heritage’ project?
- The Ministry of Tourism in close collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Archeological Survey of India (ASI), State/ UT Governments and the Private/ Public sector companies envisages developing, upgrading and maintaining amenities at heritage sites, monuments and tourist sites.
- The committee raised the concern about the lack of prior experience of the private firms involved in restoration and conservation. There have been instances when companies without any expertise in the requisite domain are permitted to undertake those works, This has resulted in avoidable damage or destruction.
- It, therefore, recommended that only experienced Monument Mitras may be hired.
Conclusion:
- Monuments represents the rich socio-religious heritage of India and they also play significant role in India’s economy in the form of tourism and related activities.
- Therefore, committee recommendations related to protection, reform in ASI and adoption of technology in excavation need to be adopted.
Editorial 2: The Rajghat Consensus
Recent Context:
- Recent New Delhi G20 Declaration was the result of a remarkable diplomatic spadework led by India that got Russia, China and the West to agree to sign on a statement at a time when they agree on practically nothing.
- But there was another consensus the very next morning that was powerful and resonant — The Rajghat Consensus, the agreement, among all leaders who stood in respectful silence, that Mahatma Gandhi’s values matter in 2023.
- That they matter today more than ever and that although these values are universal, there is also a unique, distinct Indian-ness about them.
Gandhi’s values are representative of India’s ethos of ancient civilization
- Indian-ness of India or the Bharatiyata of Bharat, the principles enshrined in our ancient texts and scriptures, the Vedas and the Upanishads, including the Gita, all find their highest and most complete expression in the Mahatma’s values
- The best of our humanity is what is epitomised by the Mahatma and standing in tribute at Rajghat because not only did the Mahatma navigate us towards freedom, but his idea of the individual’s role in society, the frailty of what it is to be human, and the moral power of doubt, are the enduring principles that define leadership and public service.
Relevance of Gandhi’s values in modern scenario
- There are certain areas of doubt and conflict in modern time such as
- How do we work to spread prosperity?
- What’s the tension between fundamental rights and duties?
- How do we balance our need to consume versus the need to conserve?
- What responsibility do we have to the future?
- How do we learn to respect those who don’t pray to the same God or speak the same language?
- How do we blend modernity and our ancient ethos?
- How do we reduce our greed to ensure climate security and biodiversity?
- And the fundamental question: Who are we as a nation?
- Each of these questions can have a million or a billion answers and the Mahatma’s experiments with truth give us the perfect compass to find our way.
- His message to the world about ahimsa, peace, truth, swaraj, sarvodaya, and even sarva shiksha give the possible solution for modern issues.
- This is what made the Mahatma the consensus builder — uncompromising in his integrity, yet deeply aware that he needed to bring warring sides together.
- No wonder then that PM Modi’s formulation, “This is not an era for war,” finds such an echo because it draws strongly from the Mahatma’s code of non-violence.
Gandhi’s vision of peace and harmony for global peaceful existence
- Mahatma’s vision of non-violence was not only external action but internal too. It called for peace within.
- Manasa, vacha and karmana were always aligned and in rhythm with the Mahatma.
- This is the Mahatma’s moral compass that brought all world leaders together last month in New Delhi.
- This is the compass that Albert Einstein, who best understood the connection between science and our humanity
Conclusion:
- This Gandhi Jayanti, he does walk upon the earth inside each one of us, pushing us to be our best as human beings, as Indians. We can afford to ignore Mohandas but not the Mahatma. He is us.