As many as 72 antiquities are presently awaiting repatriation from 11 countries, the government has said. These are the antique idols and sculptures that have already been notified for return to India by the respective countries where they were discovered, but are yet to arrive. These include eight from Australia, 17 from Singapore, nine from the UK, 31 from the US, and one each from Bangladesh, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland, according to the Ministry of Culture. The funds for repatriation are spent from the regular allocation of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), said Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy. Reddy’s statement was part of a written response in Lok Sabha on Monday, to a question by BJP MP Dushyant Singh, on return of the stolen antiquities. The ASI, which functions under the aegis of the Culture Ministry, is the nodal agency to retrieve stolen or illegally exported art objects. Once the object is repatriated to the Indian consulate by the respective country, the ASI has to spend on logistics for their return. Singh had also asked about “the funds sanctioned and released for the repatriation of the above-mentioned artefacts; and if there had been any delay in the repatriation of said artefacts due to late release of funds”. While not divulging any particular amount sanctioned for the process, Reddy said, “There has been no such delay due to release of funds”. According to the statement by the Ministry recently, over 200 stolen artefacts have been retrieved since 2014 by India from countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia, the US and France. In October this year, the US had announced the repatriation of 307 antiquities that were stolen and trafficked from India and valued at nearly $4 million. In fact, officials said that 20 antiquities retrieved by India from various countries would be put on display at the first culture working group meeting of the G20 in Khajuraho in February 2023. Otherwise, the ASI displays some of these objects at the Gallery of Confiscated and Retrieved Objects in the Purana Qila complex in Delhi. Some of these objects are also being handed over to various state governments to be repatriated to their original locations. Singh had also asked about the number of antiquities documented under the National Mission of Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA) digital database so far, and the steps been taken to increase the rate of documentation, to which Reddy responded, “The NMMA has documented 16.5 lakh antiquities so far. The agency conducts workshops and training programmes across the country on the processes of documentation of antiquities and the built heritage.”
