Evaluative Study of Manuscript Conservation and Digital Preservation Efforts by National Mission for Manuscripts NaMaMi and Its Partner Centers in Maharashtra

Abstract

Manuscripts embody the cultural wealth of any nation. They store in them knowledge and wisdom of our ancients who devoted their life and times to transmit all that they considered necessary to hand over to the posterity. Manuscripts are our legacy. They store in them many eternal truths that are valid and applicable to the humanity at any given point in time. Not caring to conserve them, let alone take an inquisitive look at the information they contain is like showing unwillingness to open the will legacy of the parents and read its contents which is meant only to benefit the heir. newlineRecognizing the urgency and need for preserving the manuscript legacy of this culturally rich nation, the Government of India under the aegis of the then Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee constituted the National Mission for Manuscripts (NaMaMi aka NMM) under the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts on mission mode. Though National Archives of India, set up more than a century ago is there with the objective of archiving historical documents and government records, its mandate is not centered on the manuscript heritage and hence a need was felt to constitute an agency that exclusively focuses on conserving manuscripts that are scattered across the country. Living up to the expectations, the NMM undertook a massive pan India survey of manuscript custodians both individuals and institutions and documented the information in its first two five year terms. These were the most fruitful years in the eighteen years of NMM s existence. newlineIn its mission to conserve the manuscript heritage, the NMM has partnered with several existing manuscript custodian centers across the country and even set up a few new centers and accorded them the status of Manuscript Resource Centers (MRCs), Manuscript Conservation Centers (MCCs), Manuscript Partner Centers (MPCs) and Manuscript Conservation Partner Centers (MCPCs). At present, in the State of Maharashtra, there are thirteen centers partnering with the NMM in the worthy and noble task of