NEW DELHI, Dec 7 : A total of 314 antiquities have been repatriated to India from various countries in the last five years, the Centre informed the Parliament on Thursday.
Union Minister for Culture and Tourism G Kishan Reddy shared this information about in a written response to a query in the Rajya Sabha. “314 antiquities have been repatriated during last five years,” he said.
In his response, he also shared country-wise data for the period.
In 2021, 159 antiquities were repatriated, while in 2019 the number stood at two.
The country has so far received 115 antiquities in 2023.
Asked whether the government has taken penal action against antique dealers and smugglers responsible for the theft during this period, the minister said, “Yes, central and state law-enforcing agencies take penal action as per the provisions in their respective laws.”
He was also asked country-wise details of antique dealers extradited to the country during this period, to which he said, “No antiquity dealer has been extradited in last five years.”
In response to a separate query, Reddy said, “The National Mission for Manuscripts has documented 5.2 million manuscripts, conserved 90 million folios and digitised 3.30 crore of manuscripts across the country from its inception in 2003 till September 2023.
“In addition to this the Mission has uploaded 1,25,000 manuscripts on its cloud platform out of which 75,000 manuscripts are available for research purposes on public domain.”
Also, 344 antiquities have returned to India since 2014, the minister said in response to another query. (PTI)
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