The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport Tourism and Culture: For pruning monuments list and making ASI more effective

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Why in News?
• What is the AMASR Act 1958?
• What is the AMASR (Amendment) Act 2010?
• About the AMASR (Amendment) Bill
• Highlights of the PSC on Transport, Tourism and Culture (359th) Report

Why in News?

• According to the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Transport Tourism and Culture, centrally protected monuments should be categorised on the basis of their national significance.
• The views of the panel are in alignment with the Government, which plans to reintroduce the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) (Amendment) Bill.

What is the AMASR Act 1958?

• It provides for the -
  • Preservation (of ancient and historical monuments, archaeological sites and remains of national importance, which are over 100 years old)
  • Regulation (of archaeological excavations)
  • Protection (of sculptures, carvings and other like objects.
• 3,691 Centrally Protected Monuments or Sites are located in India and are guarded by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) - a Ministry of Culture agency, which functions under the provisions of this act.

What is the AMASR (Amendment) Act 2010?

• In order to strengthen the penal provisions to prevent encroachments and illegal construction close to the monuments, the 1958 Act was amended in 2010.
• The amendments provide for the creation of a
  • Prohibited area 100 metre around every national monument where no construction, public or private is permitted.
  • Regulated area 200 metres beyond the prohibited area, where any construction requires permission of a newly constituted National Monuments Authority (NMA).
• The amendment also suggested that heritage by-laws for each monument be created by an expert body given the uniqueness of each monument.
• 

About the AMASR (Amendment) Bill:

• The Bill seeks to redefine monuments and rationalise the use of areas around the protected monuments.
  • There is a feeling that the Act in its present form restricts a lot of areas which could be put to good use, specifically in case of developmental and infrastructure-related work.
  • For example, prohibiting residents from constructing their houses within 100 metres of small and insignificant structures, causes a lot of inconveniences and revenue loss to them.
• By bringing the Bill, the Government also aims to effect a change in the current benchmark of a structure having to be at least 100 years old to be listed as a monument.
• The relook on the monuments is also in line with the Government’s aim to rid India of its ‘colonial past’.
  • The Government believes that most of the current monuments are from the British-era despite India having a vast wealth of more ancient structures.

Highlights of the PSC on TransportTourism and Culture (359th) Report:

• Highlighting problems with the list of centrally protected monuments, the report observed that it includes a large number of “minor monuments”.
  • For example, the list includes 75 graves of colonial-era soldiers or officials of no notable importance.
  • The panel recommended to “rationalise and categorise” this list on the basis of the national significance, unique architectural and heritage value.
• Till date, 531 monuments [~14.4% of Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) total 3,691 centrally protected monuments] have been encroached and only 9 of these monuments were cleared of encroachment.
  • The committee recommends that ASI should conduct a comprehensive survey of encroachments around all monuments under its jurisdiction.
  • This will help ASI in documenting the nature, extent and impact of encroachments on each site to create a database for informed decision-making in this regard.
• On the functioning of ASI, the panel advised to make the organisation more effective by dividing it into two wings:
  • Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) - can look after the core mandate, i.e., exploration, excavation and conservation aspects, and
  • The India Heritage Development Corporation (IHDC) - can deal with the ASI’s entire revenue.

Q1) What are UNESCO world heritage sites?

A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO. These are designated by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, scientific or other forms of significance.

Q2) What is the Monument Mitra Scheme of the Government of India?

The Monument Mitra Scheme is a scheme of the Ministry of Culture that aims to develop monuments, heritage and tourist sites across India by inviting corporate entities, public sector companies or individuals to 'adopt' them (called 'Monument Mitra').

Source: House panel wants monuments list pruned: Some not important