ASI to launch ‘Adopt a Heritage 2.0 programme’ on September 4

Team L&M

To sustain rich cultural legacy that is hidden in over 3696 heritage monuments – under its protection – spread across the country, the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) will be launching “Adopt a Heritage 2.0 Programme”  on September 4 at Samvet Auditorium, IGNCA, New Delhi. The scheme, first launched in 2017, invites corporates to enhance the amenities at the monuments by utilising their CSR funds.

The second edition of this programme is a revamped version of the earlier scheme and clearly defines the amenities sought for different monuments as per AMASR Act 1958. The stakeholders can apply for adopting a monument or specific amenity/ amenities at a monument through a dedicated web portal (www.indianheritage.gov.in), which contains details of monuments up for adoption along with gap analysis and financial estimation of amenities.

Speaking about the importance of cultural heritage in shaping our identity, Union Minister of Culture, Tourism and DoNER G Kishan Reddy, says, “Our heritage monuments are not mere structures, they are living testaments of our history, art and architecture. The Adopt a Heritage 2.0 Programme seeks to foster collaboration with corporate stakeholders through which they can contribute in preserving these monuments for our upcoming generations.”

The process for selection will be carried out after due-diligence and discussions with various stakeholders and assessing the economic and developmental opportunities at each monument.

The selected stakeholders will develop, provide and/or maintain amenities in hygiene, accessibility, safety and knowledge categories. In doing so, they will get an opportunity to be recognised as a responsible and heritage-friendly entity. The term of the appointment will be for a period of five years initially, which may be further extended up to five years.

Further, a user-friendly mobile app showing the heritage monuments named Indian Heritage will also be launched. The app will feature state-wise details of monuments along with photographs, list of public amenities available, geo-tagged location and feedback mechanism for citizens. The launch will be in a phased manner, with the ticketed monuments launched in Phase I, followed by the others.

An e-permission portal, (www.asipermissionportal.gov.in) for obtaining permission for photography, filming and developmental projects on monuments will also be launched. The portal will fast-track the process for obtaining various permissions and solve operational and logistical bottlenecks involved.