National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM)

National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM)

Recently, the Union Ministry of Culture has announced plans to revive and relaunch the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM).
Key Points of the Revived NMM:

• National Manuscripts Authority: The Ministry plans to establish an autonomous body, the National Manuscripts Authority, under its department. Currently, NMM is part of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA).
• Achievements of NMM: Between 2003-24, metadata of 52 lakh manuscripts has been prepared. Over 3 lakh titles have been digitized, with one-third of them uploaded online. However, only about 70,000 of the 1.3 lakh uploaded manuscripts are fully accessible.
• Concerns:
  • A significant portion of manuscripts is privately owned, and there are limited incentives for these owners to make them publicly available.
  • Many manuscripts are not easily accessible due to issues like poor preservation, limited digitization, and legal complexities around private ownership.
• Future Roadmap:
  • Establish university chairs abroad in departments focusing on ancient Indian studies.
  • Engage Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and legal experts to address concerns related to the sale of manuscripts abroad and private ownership.
  • Focus on preserving non-Brahmi and lesser-known scripts.

• Definition: A manuscript is a handwritten composition created on materials such as paper, cloth, palm leaf, or metal, and it must be at least 75 years old.
• Exclusions: Lithographs and printed books are not considered manuscripts.
• Script Variability: Many languages are written in multiple scripts. For instance, Sanskrit can be written in Oriya, Grantha, and Devanagari scripts.
• Distinction from Historical Records: Unlike historical records (like epigraphs or revenue records), which document events, manuscripts primarily contain knowledge on philosophy, science, literature, and art.
• Historical Interest: In the 18th century, the Nawab of Awadh presented an illuminated manuscript of the Padshahnama to King George III. Also, Hiuen Tsang, a 7th-century Chinese traveller, took several Indian manuscripts to China.
• British Interest: Several British scholars, including William Jones, C.P. Brown, and John Leyden, were instrumental in studying and preserving Indian manuscripts during the colonial period.
• Early Cataloging Efforts: The effort to catalog Indian manuscripts began as early as 1803 with H.T. Colebrooke, who was the fourth president of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

• About NMM: The National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM), an initiative by the Ministry of Culture, was launched in 2003 to preserve, document, and make accessible India’s vast manuscript heritage.
• Implementing Bodies: The Department of Culture is responsible for implementing the mission, with IGNCA serving as the nodal agency.
• Objectives: The mission aims to conserve manuscripts and disseminate the knowledge contained in them, under the motto: “Conserving the past for the future.”
• Scope and Collection: India holds an estimated five million manuscripts, possibly the largest collection in the world, with 70% of them in Sanskrit.

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