Monument conservation no longer ASI’s monopoly, private players to get a role: Report
New Delhi: For the first time, the Indian government is reportedly planning to open up the conservation of protected monuments — so far the mandate of only the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) — to private players.
According to a report by The Indian Express on Thursday, the government plans to allow corporates, public sector undertakings, and private organisations to directly hire external agencies for conservation work at forts, baolis, and other heritage sites across India.
Until now, the ASI, under the Ministry of Culture, was solely responsible for the conservation of the country’s 3,700 protected monuments. The move to include private sector participation aims to create a public-private partnership model in heritage conservation, which will help speed up conservation projects while also building capacity in the sector.
The conservation work will remain under the ASI’s supervision, with the detailed project report (DPR) for each project needing to adhere to 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. Sources quoted by TIE mentioned that the donor and the conservation architect can then hire an external implementing agency for the said conservation work at the selected monument 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,” TIE quoted an official source as saying.
In the first phase of this initiative, a list of 250 monuments in need of conservation will be made available for donors to choose from. However, the report also suggests that donors may request specific monuments from other regions or based on certain criteria, which can be discussed later.
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ED searches: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah accuses Centre of targeting Cong leaders
Chamarajanagara (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday accused the central government and its agencies of consistently targeting Congress members by using searches on their properties, and questioned why similar action is not taken against BJP leaders.
He was reacting to searches conducted by the Enforcement Directorate on Monday on several individuals, among them the sons of Karnataka Congress MLA N A Haris and the grandson of former Union Cabinet minister K Rahman Khan, in connection with a cryptocurrency-linked money laundering case.
"The central government always targets Congress leaders. Will they raid the houses of BJP leaders?" Siddaramaiah said in response to a question. More than a dozen premises in the city were searched as part of the operation carried out by the ED under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The premises searched comprised those of Mohammed Haris Nalapad and Omar Farook Nalapad, the sons of the MLA; Aqeeb Khan, the grandson of veteran Congress leader K Rahman Khan; and an alleged crypto hacker, Srikrishna Ramesh, alias Sriki, officials said.
The money laundering case stems from Karnataka Police FIRs and charge sheets filed in a 2017 case involving the hacking of national and international websites, theft of bitcoins, and the sale of these stolen virtual digital assets (VDAs) through crypto platforms by the alleged hacker Sriki and his associates.
Mohammed Haris Nalapad, Omar Farook Nalapad, and Aqeeb Khan are alleged to be beneficiaries of the proceeds of crime generated through this crypto-linked activity, officials added.
