What constitutes the primary objective of the Gyan Bharatam Mission?

Question

What constitutes the primary objective of the Gyan Bharatam Mission?

1. A. Preserving, digitizing, and disseminating India's manuscript heritage (Correct answer)
2. B. Developing new libraries across India
3. C. Promoting Indian languages globally
4. D. Translating classical texts into modern languages

Correct Answer

Option A — Preserving, digitizing, and disseminating India's manuscript heritage

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is Preserving, digitizing, and disseminating manuscripts.

Key Points

• The Gyan Bharatam Mission is directed at India's manuscript heritage — surveying, conserving, digitising and making accessible the vast body of manuscripts held across the country.
• Its purpose is safeguarding and opening up existing material, not building new libraries or translating classical texts, which the distractors propose.

Additional Information

• India holds one of the world's largest manuscript collections, estimated in the millions, in Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Tamil and many regional languages, on palm leaf, birch bark and paper.
• The mission builds on the National Mission for Manuscripts (NAMAMI), established in 2003 under the Ministry of Culture.
• Digitisation matters because the physical media are fragile and decay with handling; a digital copy also allows scholars worldwide to consult material without travel.
• Related cultural initiatives: the Indian Culture Portal, Project Mausam and the Adopt a Heritage scheme.