Now Reading: Centre delists 18 monuments since 2021, says no longer of national importance
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Centre delists 18 monuments since 2021, says no longer of national importance
Centre delists 18 monuments since 2021, says no longer of national importance
The Centre has delisted 18 protected monuments since 2021 after finding they were no longer of national importance under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, Union Culture Minister…
The Story in Brief
The Centre has delisted 18 protected monuments since 2021 after finding they were no longer of national importance under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Among the sites are Delhi's Bara Khamba Cemetery and a banyan grove with traces of ancient buildings. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) now oversees 3,688 centrally protected monuments and sites, the minister added.
Shekhawat also disclosed that India has retrieved 662 artefacts from four countries, the US (589), Australia (51), the UK (21) and the Netherlands (1), till June 2026. Separately, he said no audit of compliance with the Public Records Act, 1993, has been conducted in the last 12 years because the law does not provide for such an audit.
The Indian Opinion
The delisting of 18 monuments, including Delhi's Bara Khamba Cemetery, will worry heritage watchers who see it as a dangerous precedent. But the government's logic, that they ceased to be of national importance, is not unreasonable if properly applied. The real gap is the lack of any audit of public records for 12 years. How will the ASI ensure that the criteria for 'national importance' are transparent and consistent, not just a quiet way to reduce its conservation burden?
Source: indiatoday.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
