The Ministry of Culture in India aims to promote and preserve cultural heritage. Some recent initiatives include completing the rollout of e-ticketing at major monuments by the end of 2015, starting with the Taj Mahal and Humayun's Tomb, and identifying 25 monuments to be developed as model monuments with improved facilities. India was also elected to an international cultural heritage committee and two Indian sites, Rani ki Vav and the Great Himalayan National Park, were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Archaeological Survey of India works to conserve over 100 historical sites and monuments across India.

1. Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Culture
06-January-2015 18:10 IST
Process of E-ticketing at important historical monuments to be completed by
end of 2015, E-ticketing at the Taj Mahal in Agra and Humayun’s Tomb in
Delhi begins
Adarsh Smarak Abhiyan launched, ASI identifies 25 monuments to be
developed as Model Monuments
Rani ki Vav (Gujarat) and Great Himalayan National Park (H.P.) inscribed
on World Heritage List
The Ministry of Culture aims to promote, preserve and conserve the cultural heritage of the
country through its network of 2 attached offices, 6 subordinate offices and 34 autonomous
organizations and a number of directly operated schemes. The main functions of the Culture
Ministry include maintenance and conservation of heritage, historic sites and ancient
monuments, administration of libraries, promotion of literary, visual and performing arts,
observation of centenaries and anniversaries of important national personalities and events.
Other mandate of the Ministry is promotion of institutions and organizations of Buddhist and
Tibetan studies, promotion of institutional and individual non-official initiatives in the fields
of art and culture, entering into cultural agreements with foreign countries and creating
cultural awareness from the grass root level to the international cultural exchange level.
The Plan expenditure of the Ministry in the last three years is as below:
 2011-12 – Rs. 749.01 crore
 2012-13 - Rs. 803.78 crore
 2013-14 - Rs. 1376.84 crore
Some of the major recent initiatives and other achievements of the Ministry are given below:
E-Ticketing at the Taj and Humayun Tomb:
The process of E-ticketing at important historical monuments has begun with the launch of E-
ticketing at the Taj Mahal in Agra and Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi. This has been
accomplished with the help of IRCTC. After the initiation of the pilot project, E-ticketing will
be rolled out for all other ticketed monuments throughout the country and the task will be
completed by the end of 2015.
Adarsh Smarak:
ASI has identified 25 monuments to be developed as Model Monuments. These monuments would
be provided necessary tourist facilities including wi-fi, security, signages, encroachment free area,
interpretation centres showing short films about the importance of monuments and signboards of
YEAR END REVIEW

2. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Some of the monuments included in Adarsh Smarak scheme are Leh
Palace, Leh(J&K), Humayun’s Tomb(New Delhi), Red Fort,(Delhi), Shore
Temple(Mahabalipuram), Elephanta Caves(Mumbai Maharashtra), Taj Mahal,Agra,(UP), Rani-ki-
Vav(Gujarat) among others.
Swachh Bharat mission was launched in the Ministry of Culture on 25 September, 2014
with signing of an MoU between ASI, ONGC and Ministry of Tourism for constructing
toilets and other facilities at the Taj Mahal. Five more monuments would be covered under
Clean India campaign.
Statue of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel: Rs. 200 crore has been released for the Statue of
Unity – a statue of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel to be built in Gujarat.
Representation in International Organizations
 India has been elected for the next four years (2014-18) to the Inter-governmental
Committee for the safeguarding of the intangible Cultural Heritage in a vote in June
2014 at UNESCO headquarters. India won the election by a resounding 135 votes
against a total of 142 votes cast.
 Through the active lobbying of the Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO, India
was nominated as Vice Chair to the Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible
Cultural Heritage from November 2014 until November 2015.
Project Mausam:
Maritime Routes and Cultural Landscapes was launched by the Ministry of Culture in the
38th Session of World Heritage Committee in June 2014, at Qatar. The first international
conference, scheduled in February 2015, would be organized with national and international
research partners and collaborators. The central theme of this conference is Great Centres of
Learning: Knowledge Societies and the Making of the Indian Ocean region.
Rani kaVav (Gujarat) and Great Himalayan National Park (H.P.) have been inscribed
on World Heritage List during the 38th Session of World Heritage Committee held in June,
2014 at Doha, Qatar.
The World Heritage Committee has inscribed the Great Himalayan National Park
Conservation Area (GHNPCA), India, on the World Heritage List on the basis of criterion (x)
of UNESCO Guidelines.
The Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) is located in the Kullu District of Himachal
Pradesh, India.
Major Commemorations
The inaugural function of three major commemorations has been held– Centenary of
Komagata Maru incident on 29th September, 2014, Birth Centenary of Begum Akhtar on 7th
October 2014 and 125th Birth Centenary of Jawaharlal Nehru has also been inaugurated on
14th November, 2014. A sum of Rs. 20 crore has been released to the Nehru Memorial
Museum and Library (NMML) this year for launching a Nehru Portal on the lines of Gandhi

3. Heritage Portal, publication of selected works of Jawaharlal Nehru, renovation and
modernization of Nehru Museum and other activities of such nature.
The yearlong celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of Lalit Kala Akademi also began this
year.
National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities has uploaded about 3 lakh entries
pertaining to documentation of Antiquities from various Museums/ Documentation Resource
Centres (DRCs) across India on the NMMA website. The website “museumsofindia.gov.in”
has been launched which contains of part of digitised collection of ten important national
museums for public information worldwide.
SAARC Cultural Cooperation
The SAARC Heads of Government met in Kathmandu and agreed for enhanced focus on
cultural relations(Sept 25, 2014). The SAARC Culture Ministers met in Delhi and agreed on
the SAARC agenda for Culture for 2014-17 in the form of Delhi Resolution. India hosted the
SAARC Traditional Dance Festival from September 26-29, 2014
Other International Cooperation: India has cultural agreement with 126 countries for
promotion of International Cultural Relations (ICR).
 The India-China collaboration between Cultural Institutions was signed during the
State visit of President of China in 2014.
 The India-Australia collaboration in Cultural Exchanges was signed during the visit
of Prime Minister of India to Australia
 The India-Vietnam collaboration in Cultural Exchanges was signed during the visit of
Prime Minister of Vietnam to India
 The India-Russian Federation Joint Economic and Cultural Commission chaired by
External Affairs Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Russian Federation outlined
the roadmap for cultural exchanges between India and Russian Federation for the year
2015-16
 India & UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cultural
Cooperation which will form the bulwark of the India-UK cultural relations for the
period 2014 to 2019.
 India and Poland have agreed for deepening collaboration in culture sector covering
diverse activities including conservation, museums, archaeology, archives, science
museums, and performing arts.
 India was the signatory to the joint declaration of the ASEM Culture Ministers for
enhanced cultural relations on creative industries between Asia and Europe
 India and Russia have decided to l renew the Cultural Exchange Programme 2015-
2018. This was decided in the 20th meeting of the India-Russia Working Group on
Culture and Tourism of India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on trade,
economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation .

4. Festivals of India
 Circuit 4 of Festival of India in China commenced on December 2, 2014 - the Indian
Museum is presenting the Buddhist Art Exhibition in Shanghai from December 2 to
February 15, 2015
 The Festival of India in Japan was inaugurated in Tokyo on October 27, 2014. The
year-long festival of India in Japan represents India’s major cultural foray into Japan
on a large scale for the first time since 1988, almost 26 years ago. Covering 20 cities,
the Festival of India in Japan is being conducted in two phases
 Festival of India in Vietnam was held in November 2014 to showcase Classical
Dance Recital, Buddhist Festival, Food, folk dance, Mehndi and Yoga.
Projects related to Mahatma Gandhi :
The Dandi Heritage Path has been approved by the Ministry and it has sanctioned the Dandi
Heritage Path Project (Phase-1) for an amount of Rs 58.91 cr. The Ministry has released Rs
7.00cr in 2013-14 and Rs 6.00 cr in 2014-15 to Government of Gujarat for execution of the
project. Work on the Path has started on a war footing.
The proposal of the Ministry of External Affairs for up gradation of the Gandhi Ashram Trust
at Noakhali (Bangladesh) has been approved by Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission.
A proposal of the High Commission of India to South Africa for setting up a permanent
exhibition at the iconic Pietermaritzburg Railway Station in South Africa has been approved
by the Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission.
Archaeological Survey of India(ASI)
There are 116 ticketed monuments, archaeological sites and remains under the
Archaeological Survey of India. The revenue earned by ASI through sale of entry tickets
during the last three years is as under:
Rupees in lacs
Year Amount
2011-12 9555.17
2012-13 9762.81
2013-14 9236.62
The approved projects of ASI for the field season 2013-14 were 16 in number, which have
been carried out.
A total of Rs 218.41 cr were allotted to the ASI during the year 2013-2014 under Plan.
The amount spent on exploration/excavation is as under:

5. Amount Rs in Crore
1.43 % was incurred on the exploration/excavation activities/work
Archaeological Survey of India has once again started excavations at the Protected Site of
Sarnath from 19th February, 2014 after a gap of over 80 years. The newly created Jodhpur
Circle of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) started functioning from this year.
Conservation work at Kedarnath: After the reopening of the Kedarnath Temple in May,
2014, ASI has started conservation work there. Major works to be accomplished at the site by
ASI include packing the stones (matching the original profile and design), providing wooden
flooring, cleaning of entire interior of the temple and preserving its stone surfaces and repairs
to the temple steps and stone plinth, including resetting wherever necessary and repairs to the
roof over Mandapa of the temple. Stone dressers (from Rajasthan), labourers and carpenters
have been engaged by ASI for the conservation work.Rs. Two Crore have been earmarked to
ASI for restoration of Shri Kedarnath Temple.
ASI Abroad
 ASI has undertaken conservation projects abroad on the request of MEA, totally
funded by the MEA. These include conservation of Ta Prohm Temple in Cambodia,
Vat Phou Temple in Lao PDR and Ananda Temple at Bagan in Myanmar.
 The ASI is also supervising restoration work of Thiruketeeswaram Temple in Sri
Lanka which is being executed by College of Architecture and Sculpture,
Mamallapuram and funded by MEA.
 The work of restorations of PashupatiNath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal is being taken
up by ASI at an estimated cost of Rs. 25 crore.
 During the visit of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in October 2014,
an MoU was signed between India and Vietnam on Conservation and Restoration of
the World Heritage Site of My Son, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam.
National Mission on Libraries (NML)
The National Mission on Libraries (NML) was launched in 2014 by Ministry of Culture to
modernise and digitally link public libraries across the country. Rs. 45 crores of Financial
Total budget of Archaeological Survey
of India.
Expenditure on exploration/excavation
218.41 3.12

6. Sanctions have been under NML to 15 States for modernization of State Central Libraries and
District Libraries
Digitization
In pursuance of the Prime Minister's announcement for Digital India - the National Mission
on Manuscripts will provide added impetus to digitization of manuscripts, digitization of rare
books and digitization programs under the National Mission on Libraries
National Archives of India
The National Archives of India has successfully collaborated with the State Archives of
Turkey and the National Records and Archives Authority of Oman in a series of meetings in
Ankara and Muscat during 2014. The protocol allows National Archives of India to access
ancient Ottoman Archives records amounting to 12 million documents with considerable
historical importance.
The National Archives of India presented the Bapu - Pha Exhibition depicting the
lives of Mahatma Gandhi and King Bhumibo Adulyadej in Bangkok on December 2,
2014.
Conservation and Preservation
The National Conservation Policy has already been approved and circulated for
implementation in March 2014.
Adequate funds have been provided by the Government for conservation, preservation and
environmental development of protected monuments of Archeological Survey of India (ASI).
An amount of Rs. 16964 Lakhs was spent for the conservation of monuments under ASI
during the year 2013-14. During the years 2012-13 and 2011-12, an amount of Rs. 14867
lakhs and Rs. 13433 lakhs was spent respectively for conservation of monuments under ASI.
An amount of Rs 27545 lakhs has been allocated for the purpose for 2014-15.
The National Culture Fund (NCF) has received funds from public sector/private sector
companies for conservation of protected monuments of ASI. An amount of Rs. 50 lakhs was
received in the year 2013-14 and Rs. 22 lakhs in 2012-13.
Zonal Cultural Centres(ZCCs)
Corpus of all ZCCS (except NEZCC) has been enhanced by Rs.10 crore each and that of
NEZCC by Rs. 20 crore.The details of the funds released to all ZCCs during the last two
years are as under:
(Rs. in Lakh)
2012-13 2013-14
2159.15 4246.22
Ministry of Culture & Social Media
Ministry of Culture is now on social media platforms. The links are
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sanskritogoi ;
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sanskriti.goi ; and
• Youtube: https:// www.youtube.com/user/sanskritigoi
• A new website and logo of the Ministry of Culture, Mobile App as well as On-line
application filling facilities pertaining to various schemes of the Ministry have been e-

7. The National Archives of India will catalogue 6.5 lac files of the 17 lac files received by it
from various Ministries in 2015 by enhancing the deployment under the Critical Areas
Projects.
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launched.
The administration/ implementation of the various schemes previously run by the Ministry
of Culture has been delegated to Autonomous Bodies under the administrative control of the
Ministry.