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| December 2, 2009 | Protection of monuments requires professionalism: PM | | New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today released common entry tickets for visitors to World Heritage sites and protected monuments/sites at a function here on Wednesday. The following is the text of the Prime Minister’s speech at the 34th meeting
of Central Advisory Board of Archaeology: “Someone has described public office as
private education at public expense and in my long association in the government of India
moving from one Ministry to another, I have benefited enormously and listening to such
distinguished discourses on the future of India’s past, I have also benefited to a great
degree and I thank you for the insights that you have provided for the study of the
preservation and promotion of India’s past.
Let me begin by thanking all of you for attending and participating in the 34th meeting of
Central Advisory Board of Archaeology being held almost after two years. I would
ensure in the future that the Board meets more regularly and whatever recommendations
emanate from this august Body, they are looked into properly and action taken should
also be placed before the board at each of its next meeting. Let me say that study of
India’s past, archaeology as a discipline is something which requires joint collaborative
efforts of the Ministry of Culture, the Archaeology Survey of India, the State functionaries
and the academic bodies like the Universities. For exploration and excavation we need to
bring our collective knowledge , wisdom and experience to move forward. I can assure
you that this is an area where there is no shortage of funds, there will be no shortage of
funds, we should and we can have networks between the Cultural Ministry, the
Archaeology Survey of India, State Governments and Universities, I would like a genuine
participatory approach to be developed between the Government, Government of States,
Archeological Survey of India and Universities system of our country that’s the only way
we can carry forward this massive gigantic enterprise of preserving study of India’s past.
Let me say that we value your suggestions and as I said I would like to develop a
participatory style of function in the Ministry of Culture. I attach great importance to the
works of this ministry and that’s why when the new Cabinet was being sworn in, I said
that this is the department which I would like to keep with me. And I have in the last
seven-eight months worked with Mr. Sircar and I complement him for the enthusiasm for
his commitment for his knowledge and I am very happy that the Ministry of Culture is
being served by such a very distinguished civil servant of our country.
I am very happy that the Archaeology Survey of India has circulated the draft national
policy on archeological excavation and this document is now with you. This is in
accordance with our desire to synergize the expertise available in the government and
non-government sectors and to frame and formulate policies on the basis of widest
possible consultations. I hope that there can be and there will be an informed debate on
this subject before the policy is actually finalized and I greatly value your contribution,
your inputs towards this end.
The Archaeology Survey of India has served our country exceedingly well. It will
complete 150 years of its existence in the year 2011. I believe that we must pool all our
wisdom and experience and work to revitalize this great organization to bring it on par
with the best of institutions anywhere in the world. I was in Washington, I didn’t have
much time to go round. But my daughter who went and saw the library of US Congress
for the first time came back and said, “Daddy, well I have got some idea what you should
be doing in the Ministry of Culture. The way the Americans preserve their ancient
monuments even though it is only a fraction of what we have in this country. So I draw
inspiration from that the Archaeological Survey of India has done good work but we can
not be satisfied with the status quo. We must build up on our past experience to write a
new glorious chapter in the history of this great national enterprise.
This I have identified as one of the priority tasks in the Ministry of Culture and I wish to
flag a few issues that I think are of importance as we move forward with this important
task. One of the substantive issues that need for the discussion is the policy and procedure
relating to the notification of monuments of national importance. The act of notifying a
monument has many implications. First is the question whether the ASI has the resources
to protect and maintain it there are other legal and sensitive legal and administrative issues
that arise particularly for monuments in prohibited and regulated zones in urban areas. I
have asked Mr. Sircar to examine the issue in detail so that a coherent and practical
policy could be put in place. I am happy that the Ministry will do so after hearing your
deliberations and the outcome of these deliberations.
Though we have wealth of research materials and sources, record keeping and archival
management have not been our strong points. I recognize for example that there are often
delays in publishing the ASI’s excavation reports. The ASI has a priceless collection of
glass negative in its photographic section, that are not in the public domain. I will urge the
Ministry of Culture and the ASI to draw a time bound plan for early publication and
proper archival management of all such material. The Archaeology Survey of India’s
initiatives in republishing materials, the early days of archeology of India should be
expanded. All these would be of immense value to the scholars. I also urge Dr. Srivastava
that the publication, Ancient India which has been discontinued for many years, now
should be revived as a part of our contribution to the study of India’s past and the cultural
heritage of which we are generally proud of.
One other area where I would like to draw your attention is that there are a number
Indian sites on the tentative list of the World Heritage Committee. At the last meeting of
advisory board on culture, the point was made that our capacity for research and
documentation on such historical sites is quite inadequate. More effort needs to be put in
this regard so that we can prepare proper nomination dossiers for these sites for
inscription in the World Heritage Sites of UNESCO. There is a growing awareness about
this task in several parts of our country. It needs to be systematized in a form that will
need the approval of the standard that UNESCO sets for such examination. There are
also areas where the distinguished members of the board can give valuable suggestions
and feedback. Even though the Board meets frequently, I hope that we can use the wealth
of expertise available in this room through more frequent meetings with more selective
groups and when I listen to all the learned scholars who spoke I think that this wealth of
knowledge, wisdom and experience which should be available for this gigantic task of
remembering and honouring our past the way we would like to do.
I recognize that ASI cannot function in the manner that we expect without a drastic
overhaul of its rules and procedures and soon after becoming the Prime Minister I have
been trying even though I was not Minister for Culture, that the rules for senior
appointments should be changed, there should be greater scope to bring in the
professionals. At long last I think the task is in the process of being fulfilled and rules and
procedure are being revised. Professionalism and work culture that require that attracts
talents and creates a sense of pride and motivation are vital and I agree with one of the
scholars who said that the ASI must be given maximum professional freedom. I assure
you that will be the direction in which I would like the Ministry to be supportive of the
maximum possible functional freedom being given to ASI for its work. I agree that
professionalism and work culture attracts talent and creates a sense of pride and
motivation are vital if we are to revitalize this great institution that the ASI is. This applies
to other institutions working under the Ministry of Culture as well. I often mention to the
officials in the Ministry of Culture, the sad state in which the National Archives is.
There is no reason why we should be satisfied with the present set up. We need to bring
in more professional talent in the management whether for senior appointments or through
advisory committees ,we need to put in place the maximum possible wisdom, knowledge,
experience available in our country for management of the national archive, the
management of the ASI and all institutions which have a bearing on preservation,
protection and remembering India’s great ancient past. As an important first step, we have
taken a decision to modify the recruitment rules and other terms and conditions of eight
organizations under the Ministry of Culture. In line with these rules we are in the process
of selecting a professional in the field of archeology for the post of Director General, ASI.
I believe that we will need to think seriously about how to build a talent pool of
archeologists, curators and other specialists who have relevant domain knowledge but are
also experienced in management and administration of museum, archives and institutions
like ASI. I would welcome any suggestion that may emanate from this august body to
realize this ambition of ours.
There are important emerging areas in protection of monuments that require expert
professional attention. Monuments cannot live in isolation. A communication strategy that
evokes the interests of youth or the corporates and imaginative policies that integrate
monuments with the local communities and other civil society activists and meet their
needs are two such areas which require greater study and action both by this board as
well as the Ministry of Culture. These are some of the thoughts which occurred to me and
as a layman I have placed them before you. I have my very best wishes. I attach great
importance to government institutions functioning in close collaboration with agencies and
authorities of the civil society workers and in this room we have assembled a very
distinguished group of scholars whose wisdom, knowledge and experience I sincerely
hope will improve the functioning of this great institution, the Archaeology Survey of India
is.
With these words I once again thank each one of you. I know each one of you have many
pre-occupations and much pressure on time, that you have nevertheless come here and
spent the whole day analyzing problems and prospects of the archaeological management
in our country, I thank you from the core of my heart and as a Minister of Culture I assure
you that whatever knowledge and experience emanates from this august Body will find
proper expression in the policy guidelines that we may evolve to improve the functioning
of the ASI. | |
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