Prime Minister Narendra Modi will officially launch the reorganised Gyan Bharatam Mission (formerly the National Manuscripts Mission) on June 9, 2025

Regarding the Gyan Bharatam Mission:

What it is: An updated national program aimed at locating, preserving, digitizing, and disseminating India's extensive manuscript resources.

Proclaimed in: Union Budget 2025–26, within the Ministry of Culture.

Involved Ministry: Ministry of Culture; supported by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).

Goal: To examine, register, safeguard, and ensure access to more than ten million manuscripts from universities, museums, libraries, and individual collectors.

Main Characteristics:

• Budget allocation rose from ₹3.5 crore to ₹60 crore.
• Promotes collaboration among private manuscript owners via access regulations.
• Concentrates on digitizing and generating metadata for rare documents.
• Seeks to advance Sanskrit and traditional Indian knowledge systems.
• Connected with organizations such as CIIL, IIT Bombay, and the Samskriti Foundation.

Concerning the National Manuscripts Mission (NMM):

What it is: A nationwide effort started to record, preserve, and digitize India’s historical manuscript legacy.

Inaugurated in: February 2003.

Parent Organization: Functions under IGNCA, Ministry of Culture.

Objective: To protect India's intellectual heritage and provide access to manuscripts for researchers and the general public.

Main Attributes:

• India's collection of manuscripts is valued at over 1 crore, encompassing more than 80 scripts and over 60 languages.
• By 2025, digitized metadata for 52 lakh manuscripts is expected, but only around 1.3 lakh has been uploaded.
• Eighty percent of manuscripts are held by private collectors, and NMM encourages incentives for sharing them.
• Over 9 crore folios conserved in a span of 21 years.
• Focus on global accessibility, understanding, and partnership with international digital platforms such as Google Arts & Culture.