Why Is The Government Launching The ‘Gyan Bharatam’ Mission? Gyan Bharatam International Conference To Begin Today in Delhi

The Ministry of Culture is all set to launch the ‘Gyan Bharatam’, a national initiative to preserve, digitise, and disseminate India’s manuscript heritage. 

The initiative will be launched at the first-ever Gyan Bharatam International Conference on ‘Reclaiming India’s Knowledge Legacy through Manuscript Heritage’, which will be organised from Sept 11 to Sept 13 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

In a post on X, the Ministry of Culture wrote, “The 3-day ‘Gyan Bharatam’ International Conference 2025 on celebrating the Bhartiya Gyan Parampara through manuscripts starts on Sept 11 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.”

According to the Ministry, the conference will bring together over 1,100 participants, including scholars, experts, institutions, and cultural practitioners from across the country and abroad.

The ‘Gyan Bharatam’ will be launched as a visionary national movement dedicated to safeguarding and disseminating India’s vast manuscript wealth. 

It will serve both as a tribute to the nation’s civilisational roots and as a forward-looking step towards the Prime Minister’s vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047, where India emerges as a true Vishwa Guru (World Leader), combining the wisdom of its past with the innovation of its future.

What Is the ‘Gyan Bharatam’ Mission?

Gyan Bharatam is the updated version of the earlier National Manuscripts Mission (NMM). The NMM began in 2003 under IGNCA (Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts).

In the Union Budget 2025-26, funding for the ‘Gyan Bharatam’ increased from Rs 3.5 crore to Rs 60 crore. Its main objective is to survey, document, conserve, and digitise more than one crore manuscripts from across India.

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