Exclusive| Big heritage policy shift — Monument conservation no longer ASI’s monopoly, private players to get a role

Sources said the new move aims to create a public-private-partnership model in heritage conservation, leading to capacity building and also fast-tracking of conservation projects.

This, however, will come with some checks and balances, sources said. While funds have to be routed through the National Culture Fund, the conservation project will be under ASI’s supervision and the detailed project report (DPR) has to follow the National Policy for Conservation, 2014.

As a first step in the process, the Ministry of Culture will be floating a request for proposal (RFP) to empanel over a dozen conservation architects of repute, across the country, one of whom can then be selected by the donor to guide with the conservation process and guidelines. The donor and the conservation architect can then hire an external implementing agency for the said conservation work at the selected monument, sources said, for which the DPR will be prepared and approved by the ASI.

The ASI will no longer be the only conservation implementing agency in the country, and several private players with relevant experience will be on board, as directly hired by these donors, once this takes shape.

“Once the conservation architects are empanelled, we will open the conservation work with corporate contributions to NCF. And that can be directly done by the contributor,” an official source said.

The National Culture Fund was set up in 1996 with an initial corpus of Rs 20 crore by the government. The idea was to retain the base corpus and use interest amount for conservation activities at the monuments. Ever since, Rs 140 crore has come into NCF through corporate and PSU donations, which have been used to fund around 100 conservation projects at protected monuments.

While 70 such projects have been completed, around 20 projects are ongoing, according to officials. The recent completed projects include conservation and development of Bhuleshwar Temple near Pune, conservation and reuse of former the British Residency in Hyderabad’s Osmania University, conservation of a group of monuments at Mandu, and work at several important sites in New Delhi, including the Purana Qila and the site museums at Red Fort.

The ongoing projects include restoration and development of National Heritage Site at Deobaloda in Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), funded by the Steel Authority of India-Bhilai Steel Plant; tourist Infrastructure facilities at Kala Amb, Panipat, and Singorgarh Fort in Damoh (MP), funded by Indian Oil Foundation/Indian Oil Corporation; and the conservation and development of the excavated remains at Vikramshila (Bihar), funded by National Thermal Power Corporation. All these projects have ASI as the implementation agency, right from creating a DPR to executing the project.

Those aware of the matter said there was a feeling that this process had been slow with just ASI as the sole implementation agency. The new plan will enhance capacity in conservation work, and will also ensure stricter compliance timelines for projects, which is something corporate sponsors have struggled with in the past, despite coming forward to contribute to the culture fund.

The NCF is managed by a Council and an Executive Committee. The Council is chaired by the Union Minister of Culture and has members representing the corporate and public sector, private foundations and non-profit organisations. The Executive Committee is chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Culture.

With donations to the NCF eligible for 100% tax exemptions, the aim is to encourage corporates to partner with it through CSR for promoting the cultural heritage of India.

So, the idea is that instead of giving the money to the government, the donors spend the money themselves, through the NCF, and also get tax benefits. This will create greater participation of the private sector in heritage conservation and can go a long way in making conservation activities sustainable. In return, corporates/ donors will also get due credit at the monument campus for partnering towards heritage conservation, sources said.

Earlier, the government had launched Adopt a Heritage scheme to allow corporates and PSUs to come in a “monument mitras” and help in creation of amenities for visitors (ticket windows, toilet blocks, entry and exits, cafes etc), but this is the first time that private donors can sign up for the execution of the core conservation work at the monuments.

Officials said there was an existing clause in the NCF which was being activated for the purpose, and no new notification may be required. The conservation architects will be empanelled by the government after due diligence, keeping their work experience and turnover as key criteria. The executing agencies also need to show some experience in heritage conservation, at a structure which is more than 100 years old – either with a monument under a state government or with a private organisation like a heritage haveli.

On what kind of monuments can the donors take up under the NCF, officials said they will initially put up a list of 250 monuments that require conservation work, and the donors can choose. However, if they are looking for something in their specific region or other criteria, they can write and discuss it further.

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