New Delhi: Eight antiquities have been
stolen from monuments and sites maintained by the
Archaeological Survey of India in the last three years and
separate FIRs have been lodged in this regard, the government
told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
In 2009, antiquities were stolen from Gargach Temple in
Baran district of Rajasthan in 2009 while 4 antiquities were
stolen from Rajasthan, West Bengal and Karnataka in 2010,
Culture Minister Kumari Selja said.
In 2011, a nandi sculpture and another statue was stolen
from a temple in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh, she told
Rajya Sabha.
FIRs have been lodged in connection with the incidents.
In reply to a separate question, she said the National
Mission for Manuscripts has set up two Manuscript Resource
Centres -- one in the Directorate of State Archives and
Archaeology, Jammu and Kashmir, and the other in the Central
Institute of Buddhist Studies, Leh, for documenting the
manuscripts available in the state.
"The Mission has already documented 37,379 manuscripts
through these Centres," she said.
"Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) has
completed the micro-filming of the entire collection of 5437
manuscripts of Shri Ranbir Sanskrit Research Institute, Jammu.
Besides this, IGNCA has also microfilmed seven manuscripts
belonging to Charer-E-Sharif," Selja said.
She also said ASI has received a report on the
discovery of Old Majitha fort in Amritsar in Punjab.
"The report states that the historic Majitha fort
surrounded by agriculture land belongs to the reign of
Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1801 to 1839 AD). A few structural
remains, partially exposed having a double defensive system,
are in a ruined condition," she said.
PTI
