Center to revisit process of declaring monuments of national importance: EAC-PM

In a report titled ‘Monuments of National Importance – Urgent Need for Rationalization’, the EAC-PM said that the expenditure on conservation and maintenance of monuments of national importance is inadequate.

“The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) should come up with concrete criteria and a detailed process for declaring monuments of national importance.

“It should also publish a book of notifications with detailed information about the place of origin of all monuments of national importance (MNI),” the report said.

The EAC-PM also recommended that minor monuments and antiquities protected as monuments should be notified as MNI and monuments of local importance should be transferred to the respective states for conservation.

“Allotment of funds should be increased for conservation of monuments of national importance. Also, revenue sources such as tickets, events, fees and other sources should be leveraged more actively and the income should be retained by the ASI,” the report said.

“Along with rationalization of the existing list, other monuments should be added to the list based on well-defined criteria and procedures,” it added.

The report, prepared by the EAC-PM, states that the existing list of MNIs has not been reviewed since independence, and has become “superfluous” due to the inclusion of minor colonial structures or monuments that are not of national importance. Huh.

“A large number of MNIs do not seem to have national significance or historical or cultural significance. Our analysis estimates that about a quarter of the existing list of 3,695 MNIs may not have ‘national significance’,” the report said.

For example, about 75 graves and cemeteries of British officers and soldiers that have neither architectural significance nor historical or cultural significance are on the list. The list includes many movable, standalone ‘antiquities’ such as pieces of sculpture, statues, cannons etc. which are being treated as ‘monuments’.

EAC-PM member Sanjeev Sanyal prepared the report which also recommended that the income from these monuments should be with the implementing bodies.

Furthermore, it has been suggested that standalone antiquities should be removed from the list of monuments of national importance, while inaccessible and minor monuments should be removed at the earliest.

According to reports, the Center had allocated 428 crore for the maintenance and protection of 3,695 monuments, which is approximately 11 lakh per MNI.

“It is very less for a culturally rich and civilizational state like India. Therefore, there is an urgent need to rapidly increase the allocation of funds for conservation and maintenance of monuments,” the EAC-PM said.

As per the report, more than 60% of them (2238 out of 3695) are located in just five states: Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. For example, while the city of Delhi alone has 173 MNIs, a large state like Telangana has only eight. Culturally and historically significant states such as Bihar (70), Odisha (80), Chhattisgarh (46) and Kerala (29) have disproportionately low MNI.