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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:

Launched in	27th September, 2017 ( World Tourism Day)
Ministry	Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture
Other organizations	Archeological Survey of India (ASI), State/UTs government
Objective	Ensuring sustainable upkeep of India’s heritage sites by involving private and public stakeholders in the maintenance, development, and operation. Ensuring more tourism by ensuring better experience of the visitors.
Aim	Develop and maintain amenities at heritage sites
Legality	Defined as per Ancient Monuments and Archeological Sites and Remain Act (AMASR), 1958
Monuments adopted by companies	Red Fort Gandikota Fort Area surrounding Gangotri Temple and Trail to Gaumukh Mt. Stok Kangri Trek in Ladakh Jantar Mantar Suraj Kund Qutub Minar Ajanta Caves Leh Palace Hazara Rama Temple in Hampi
Monument Mitras	Entities with the best vision for the heritage sites are given an opportunity to associate pride with their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibilities) activities

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

Practice question Q:Safeguarding the Indian Art Heritage is the need of the moment. Discuss. (150 words) [2018 PYQ]