New Delhi, March 30 – The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, has scanned a total of 2,033 manuscripts, comprising 1,46,099 pages, as of March 23, after being designated as a Cluster Centre for manuscript scanning work under the Gyan Bharatam Mission, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday.
Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, in a written reply, explained the safety measures at the Society and said it has basic disaster preparedness measures in place, including a fire safety system and Standard Operating Procedures.
He said that close coordination is maintained with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Fire and Emergency Services Department of the Government of West Bengal, and the local police authorities.
The Society has digitized a total of 11,528 manuscripts, comprising 5,72,890 pages, he said.
The grant-in-aid provided by this Ministry to the Asiatic Society broadly supports its core functions, and the requirements are reviewed from time to time in view of the scale and preservation needs of its collections, the Minister said.
Shekhawat said that the Asiatic Society's heritage building is under the jurisdiction of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and necessary steps for its repair and restoration are undertaken through ASI.
Adequate temperature and humidity control systems are in place in the Society's Museum, where manuscripts, rare books, and artifacts are housed, he said.
The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, conducts regular checks on the condition of the rare manuscripts and artifacts in its collection. These checks are carried out by cataloguers and other officials on a regular basis, under the overall supervision of the Curator, he said.
He said that the Society has its own Conservation and Binding Section to carry out conservation and binding work. Since the establishment of the Manuscript Conservation Centre in 2022, the Society has carried out the preventive conservation of 35,624 folios of manuscripts and the curative conservation of 4,596 folios of rare manuscripts. Cataloguing is a regular function of the Museum and Archive Section.