Copyright infringement not intended

Context:

Recently India’s Adopt a Heritage Programme has been in the news regarding the degrading status of the heritage sites and monuments and also because of its non-systematic and sporadic existence.

About Adopt a Heritage Programme:

Advantages of the programme:

• Preservation of India’s heritage and culture
• Boost the tourism industry by attracting both domestic and international tourists.
• Promotion of Indian culture at the international level
• More employment and economic opportunities for the locals
• Upholding the fundamental duty enshrined in Article 51(A) of the constitution to value and preserve India’s composite culture.

Challenges:

• Conflict of interests among the stakeholders.
• Lack of a clear legal framework to specify the responsibilities of each stakeholder.
• Increased maintenance cost due to increased pressure on tourism requires more funding.
• In some cases, a lack of expertise in the maintenance of heritage sites may lead to damaged monuments.

Need for a more enlightened approach:

• In India, architecture has no civic presence and is conceived entirely as an emblem of personal pride.
  • • As a result, its growth is sporadic and episodic unlike the places in Europe where invariably clear and conscious allusion to history can be found on the streets.
• Lack of ancestral connection with the long civic history leads to heritage sites becoming mere archaeological and geological evidence.
  • • As a result, lack of interest in contributing to its preservation.
• Extreme preservation approaches. For example, Keeping the site as it is or excessive modernization.
  • • Both can result in a lack of proper maintenance of the site and modifying the true nature and spirit of the site respectively.
• The threat of religious polarization as India has a mixed religious history.
  • • This may lead to a conflict of religious interest in the preservation of heritage sites.
• Threat of profit-making interests of the private companies.
  • • This may result in the exploitation of the cultural sites.

Previous attempts for private sector involvement in heritage conservation:

• National Culture Fund 1996, operating in Public Private Partnerships (PPP) mode and 34 projects have been completed under it to date.
• Campaign Clean India under which the government had identified 120 monuments/destinations.

Way forward:

• Proper legal framework specifying responsibilities of each stakeholder.
• Ensuring sufficient fund supply as well as rational fund utilization.
• Engaging youths in conservation activities by making them aware of the cultural history.
• Keeping the profit-making policies of the private companies under check with transparent auditing in a time-bound manner.
• Finding balanced conservation solutions that bring the experience of origins and the appreciation of an ongoing process together.

Conclusion:

If at all citizens are to benefit from these buildings, a more enlightened policy on reuse needs careful consideration, something that takes into account local requirements and national ideals.

Read about:

Ancient Monuments and Archeological Sites and Remain Act (AMASR), 1958

Source: 

THE HINDU