New Delhi, March 16 The government launched a three-month nationwide survey on Monday for documenting, conserving, and digitizing India's manuscript heritage under the Gyan Bharatam initiative, officials said.
The exercise will be carried out at the district level across the country, they said.
Gyan Bharatam, announced in the 2025-26 Union Budget, is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Culture, aimed at uncovering, safeguarding, and preserving India's vast manuscript heritage.
"The all-India survey began today. This will lead to further conservation and digitization of manuscripts located in various places across the country, and their integration into the digital repository," a senior official said.
The ministry had hosted a three-day international conference – 'Gyan Bharatam' – on India's manuscript heritage last September.
During the conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the 'Gyan Bharatam' portal, a dedicated digital repository platform that aims to accelerate the digitization and preservation of ancient Indian manuscripts and enhance the dissemination of traditional knowledge embedded within them.
A senior official said that advertisements regarding the survey and the Gyan Bharatam app were published in many national media outlets on Monday.
In February, the government had informed the Lok Sabha that over 7.5 lakh manuscripts had been digitized under the Gyan Bharatam initiative, with 1.29 lakh of these available on its dedicated portal.
Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, in a written response to a query, had also said that 20 states and UTs have been onboarded to act as the "nodal coordinating authority" for Gyan Bharatam implementation within the concerned states and UTs.
A detailed manual on preservation and conservation has been framed and shared with conservation experts for feedback.
A survey app has been developed and shared with stakeholders for feedback, the Union minister had said.
Shekhawat had also said that 45 centers – 28 cluster centers and 17 independent centers in various states and UTs – have been onboarded so far to carry out the activities outlined under the Gyan Bharatam initiative.
"Aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, the initiative seeks to harmonize cultural preservation with human capital development, ensuring that India's ancient wisdom continues to inspire generations to come. To support the initiative, the Standing Finance Committee has sanctioned Rs 491.66 crore for the period 2025-2031," he had told Lok Sabha.