Over 7 lakh manuscript folios conserved: Union Culture

The government has said it has conserved over seven lakh manuscripts and digitised more than two lakh folios, to preserve the documents.
In a reply to a query in the Lok Sabha yesterday, Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said 34 Manuscript Conservation Centres have conserved 7,78,05,804 manuscripts as on March 31, 2017.
Through the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM), launched in 2003 for documentation, conservation, digitisation and publication of Indian manuscripts, 30 Manuscript Resource Centres (MRCs) and 34 MCCs have been set up in universities, the minister said in a written reply.
The NMM has undertaken work related to digitisation of manuscripts of interested repositories by inviting qualified digital agencies through open tenders, he said.

As on March 31 this year, 2,63,32,204 pages of manuscripts had been digitised, Sharma informed the House.
Workshops and seminars on manuscriptology and paleography are conducted by the NMM for promoting knowledge of manuscripts in different scripts and languages, the minister said.
Eighty-four workshops on manuscriptology and paleography, and 56 seminars imparted training to 2,398 and 1,687 participants, respectively, till March, the reply stated.