Pariksha SaathiMinistry of Culture signs an MoU with the Bibliothèque nationale de France under the Gyan Bharatam Mission to strengthen the preservation of India's manuscript heritage
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed and exchanged in Paris on 26 October 2026 between the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), the National Library of France, under the Gyan Bharatam Mission, to strengthen institutional cooperation in the preservation, digitisation, research and dissemination of manuscript and documentary heritage, the Ministry of Culture said on 27 October 2026. The MoU was signed by Vivek Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, and Gilles Pécout, President of BnF. The partnership brings together the Ministry of Culture (through Gyan Bharatam), the National Archives of India, New Delhi, the National Library, Kolkata, and BnF, and establishes a framework for cooperation across five key areas: Digitisation; Cross-Sharing on the National Digital Repository; Technology Exchange; Conservation; and Research & Development. The Ministry of Culture and BnF will work to identify and digitise Indic-origin manuscripts and collections held by BnF, and the MoU also provides for the exchange of expertise and knowledge in areas such as digitisation and preservation technologies, cataloguing standards, OCR/HTR tools for Indian scripts, digital humanities and manuscript conservation; joint workshops, capacity-building programmes, research initiatives, publications, exhibitions and exchanges of scholars and experts are also envisaged under the partnership. The Gyan Bharatam Mission is the Ministry of Culture's flagship initiative dedicated to the identification, documentation, conservation, digitisation, translation, research and dissemination of India's manuscript heritage; its National Digital Repository is envisaged as a secure digital repository for Indian-origin manuscripts and Indian Knowledge Systems held in India and across the world, enabling structured, permission-based access for research and study. The Ministry described the partnership as an important step towards strengthening international cooperation for the preservation, study and wider dissemination of India's manuscript heritage.
Drafted with AI assistance from the official PIB release linked above and checked against it by a second AI pass. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
The Gyan Bharatam Mission (GBM), announced during the Union Budget 2025-26, is an initiative of the Ministry of Culture to undertake manuscript-related activities. Its objectives include using advanced technology to significantly enhance the pace of digitisation and documentation of manuscripts, conducting a survey and registration of manuscripts, facilitating their conservation and preservation through training, awareness and financial support, boosting scholarship and research in the study of Indian languages and manuscriptology, and building up a National Digital Repository (NDR). In a written reply in the Lok Sabha on 3 August 2026, Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that the Standing Finance Committee (SFC) had sanctioned Rs 491.66 crore for the initiative for the period 2025-2031, and that the National Manuscript Survey, launched in March 2026 across all States and Union Territories, had reported more than 1.19 crore manuscripts. Of the over 8 lakh digitised manuscripts available across the country, more than 4.40 lakh were then available on the Gyan Bharatam portal for public access; access to digitised copies is facilitated in accordance with the rights of custodians and rights holders. The mission works through Cluster Centres and Independent Centres, which include universities, research institutions, libraries, archives, private custodians and religious institutions.
Check yourself: in which Union Budget was the Gyan Bharatam Mission announced, and how much has the Standing Finance Committee sanctioned for it, for what period?
The Union Budget 2025-26; Rs 491.66 crore, for the period 2025-2031.
Revision task: from this release, note where and when the MoU was signed, who signed it, the Indian institutions in the partnership, its five areas of cooperation and what the National Digital Repository is meant to be; from the note, when the Gyan Bharatam Mission was announced, its sanctioned amount and period, and the National Manuscript Survey and portal figures.
Test yourself
Under which mission did the Ministry of Culture sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) in Paris on 26 October 2026 to strengthen the preservation of India's manuscript heritage?
Show the answer
Answer: Gyan Bharatam Mission
The MoU was signed and exchanged in Paris on 26 October 2026 under the Gyan Bharatam Mission, the Ministry of Culture's flagship initiative dedicated to the identification, documentation, conservation, digitisation, translation, research and dissemination of India's manuscript heritage. It was signed by Vivek Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, and Gilles Pécout, President of BnF, and establishes a framework for cooperation across five key areas: Digitisation; Cross-Sharing on the National Digital Repository; Technology Exchange; Conservation; and Research & Development.
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