PRESS RELEASE ON 393rd REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORT, TOURISM AND CULTURE

The 393rd report of the Department‑related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, chaired by Shri Sanjay Kumar Jha, was presented on 12 August 2026. Titled “From Manuscript to Mission: Preserving, Mapping and Sustaining India’s Cultural Heritage in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”, the report proposes a series of measures – from expanding digitisation standards and creating a citizen‑driven ‘Akshar Mitra’ platform, to releasing open‑access manuscript data, building an open index of persons/places/works, extracting astronomical and weather observations, and integrating cultural layers into the PM Gati Shakti Master Plan. It also recommends a guardianship framework for at‑risk manuscripts and collaboration with the Ministry of AYUSH for pharmacopoeial linkages.