Overview

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the Gyan Bharatam Portal at the international conference in New Delhi to accelerate manuscript digitisation, preservation and public access.
• The conference closed with the New Delhi Declaration, which commits to preserving, repatriating or digitising manuscripts and calls for action against intellectual piracy.
• The Culture Ministry’s Gyan Bharatam Mission seeks to document, survey, conserve and digitise more than one crore manuscripts across institutions, libraries, museums and private collections.
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the drive will cover over one crore manuscripts with Rs 483 crore in funding, supported by AI-enabled workflows, a planned National Digital Repository and expert committees.
• Scholars and students at the event praised the portal as a significant boost for research, citing new visibility and access for materials long held in private or scattered collections.