Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi celebrated India’s linguistic diversity and announced the ongoing efforts of the Gyan Bharatam Mission to digitize and preserve ancient manuscripts, during his speech at Red Fort. “India’s linguistic diversity is immense and treasured. The richer our languages, the stronger our knowledge systems,” he said, emphasizing their global significance in the data era. PM Modi highlighted the recent conferment of classical language status to Marathi, Assamese, Bengali, Pali, and Prakrit, reinforcing cultural pride.

The Gyan Bharatam Mission, launched on July 27, 2025, during the 124th episode of Mann Ki Baat and formalized in the 2025-26 Union Budget with a ₹60 crore allocation, aims to digitize over one crore manuscripts. PM Modi described these as “chapters of India’s soul,” with a National Digital Repository planned for global access by scholars and students.

Building on the National Mission for Manuscripts (2003), which digitized 3.5 lakh manuscripts, the mission targets 50 crore pages across Sanskrit, Tamil, and other languages, held by institutions and private collectors. Collaborating with IITs, the Central Institute of Indian Languages, and Google Arts & Culture, the mission employs AI and cloud technology to preserve fragile texts on palm leaves and birch bark.

Challenges include linguistic expertise shortages and infrastructure needs, but the ₹482.85 crore scheme (2024-31) aims to enhance research, boost India’s soft power via UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program, and align with ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047.

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