Adopt A Heritage Scheme
Context:
- It is possible for private companies, corporations, and governmental organisations to come to agreements about the adoption and maintenance of state-owned archaeological sites or monuments. Businesses that enter into such agreements are known as Monument Mitras.
The looming threats:
- The goal of this initiative, which was started in February 2023, is for 500 protected sites to be accepted by August 15 and another 500 sites immediately after. The number of locations featured in the controversial 2017 “Adopt a Heritage” campaign has increased tenfold, as seen by this number. If the “revamped” plan is not shelved, the nation’s priceless pluralistic legacy is in jeopardy.
- Under the recently modified “Adopt a Heritage” initiative, businesses may utilise their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds to construct and maintain ticket booths, restaurants, museums, interpretive centres, bathrooms, and walkways at certain places. They could organise excursions, arrange cultural events, maintain the machinery for light and sound shows, and illuminate landmarks.
National treasure corporate appropriation issues
- The magnificent monuments of India are put in jeopardy when corporations are given the choice of building museums and interpretation centres and creating their own content instead of trained professionals.
- The current strategy also disregards the mandate of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), abandoning the Sarnath Initiative, a set of guidelines created by the ASI, the Getty Trust, the United States, the British Museum, and National Culture Fund to safeguard excavated objects and present them to visitors in an engaging way.
- A few of the monuments selected for the programme that have existing tourism infrastructure include the stupas at Sanchi, the Brihadeshwar temple in Thanjavur, and Akbar’s imperial capital at Fatehpur Sikri.
- The “Adopt a Heritage” program’s provision for corporations to take prime public property and develop their own brands is another element that worsens the condition of the neighbourhoods near famous landmarks.
- Since they are on ASI lists, many of the monuments selected for the “Adopt a Heritage” programme are protected by the central organisation. The archaeology directorate of the other people chosen for the programme is responsible for protecting them. The program’s selection of monuments includes several that are neither ASI-protected nor situated in states with archaeological directors. Companies who accept these monuments as their own through the Union Ministry of Culture may be able to alter their historical value.
- Local neighbourhoods and their ties to historical landmarks will suffer as a result of the strategy. Workers of large corporations that have been given permission to adopt a monument may conduct guided tours that endanger the livelihoods of people who once lived there.
If Monument Mitras does not adopt a monument within the allotted time, what will happen to it?
- The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government has reportedly started giving these monuments to the tourism department so they can be converted into hotels, according to media reports. They include the residences of the Nawabs of Awadh and Chunar Fort, a fort with a view of Barwasagar Lake. The plan continues to put hasty commercial and tourism interests ahead of historical preservation.
The future: corporate heritage protection in India:
- Businesses can inform the public of the significance of monuments. This can be done by allocating CSR funds for grants for the creation of cutting-edge and effective historical teaching techniques as well as for the study, creation, and distribution of excellent textbooks.
- Traders and store owners can donate money to school libraries to buy historical records that are relevant to monuments in the area and will assist students comprehend the value of monuments, such as books, maps, and old pictures.
- Companies could elect to emulate Sudha and N.R. Narayana Murthy and donate to organisations like the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune to support its continuous work to create history by logically connecting the textual record and the archaeological data.
- After the COVID-19 pandemic began, some schools’ humanities and social science departments have halted hiring. Other universities are merging these departments. Corporations can revitalise them by establishing fellowships, endowing professorships, and funding research training programmes.
- Industrial buildings can make a substantial contribution to the preservation of historic buildings by allowing visitors to peek inside. Their CSR funds can be used to purchase new equipment that releases fewer toxic gases that corrode and darken marble structures, as well as fewer effluents into rivers, lowering the risk that these waterways will act as a breeding ground for microbes that accumulate on the walls of old buildings built on riverbanks and cause their decay.
- The time is now for businesses to support interdisciplinary teams working at the Development and Research Organisation for Nature, Arts, and Heritage (DRONAH) Foundation and the Centre for Advancement of Traditional Building Technology and Skills to protect historical sites from looming threats like climate change.
Conclusion:
- India’s progress in a variety of fields is currently being recognised at G-20 meetings all throughout the nation. By implementing innovative historical preservation techniques, companies, government agencies, and civil society organisations may highlight India’s true achievements in this area. Maybe the results of their work may inspire more individuals to help with the pressing task of preserving India’s rich past.
