Overview Of Currents Heritage Legislation In India
Introduction
The Indian sub-continent is endowed with, perhaps, the richest and the most diverse stock of cultural and architectural heritage, with a significant proportion of them constituting living monuments. India has an overwhelming number of heritage structures, of which the protected ones include barely 25 edifices declared as World Heritage Monuments by UNESCO, approximately 3, 650 monuments in the custody of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) declared as monuments of national importance. For a country with such a rich and diverse history and culture, India does very little to preserve the remnants of its past. The ministry of culture receives well under 1% of the country’s annual budget, and this lack of funds and initiative has resulted in most monuments and historical sites being neglected for years. Their surroundings are often poorly maintained and the whole experience of visiting them is a world away from what it’s like to visit sites of more recent history in the developed world. What’s worse is that some ancient monuments have even disappeared under the watch of the Archaeological Survey of India, the government agency whose main purpose is protecting them.
Various laws enacted for conservation
The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological sites and Remains Act, 1958 (recently been amended in 2010) provides for the preservation of ancient and historical monuments and archaeological sites and remains of national importance, for the regulation of archaeological excavations and for the protection of sculptures, carvings and other like objects. The Act prohibits construction in ‘prohibited area’, an area of 100 meters around protected monument. It does not permit construction in such prohibit.
The Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904 is expedient to provide for the preservation of ancient monuments, for the exercise of control over traffic in antiquities and over excavation in certain places, and for the protection and acquisition in certain cases of ancient monuments and of objects of archaeological, historical or artistic interest. Act preserves and restores ancient Indian monuments by Archaeological Survey of India.
The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972 regulates the trade in antiquities and art treasures. It defines antiquities as a coin, sculpture, painting, an object detached from a building or a cave, or of historical interest, and which is over 100 years old. Art treasures are any other human work of art declared to be so by the Union government. Only the Union government or an agency authorized by it are permitted to export antiquities or art treasures. All dealers in these items need to obtain a license. The government may specify certain objects that need to be registered; every sale of those objects require registration. The Act also permits the government to compulsorily acquire any antiquity or art treasure with the objective of preserving it in a public place (such as a museum). In such cases, the government must pay compensation of 120 percent of the value of the object; the fair value is to be decided by agreement or arbitration. The decision of whether or not an article is an antiquity or art treasure will be determined by the director-general of the Archaeological Society of India.
The Indian Treasure-Trove Act, 1878 was enacted on 13th February, 1878. For purpose of act, “treasure means anything of any value hidden in soil or in anything affixed”. Whoever at any time find any such treasure which is more than ten rupees he should immediately inform government in written regarding such treasure is found and has to mention nearby vale of that treasure and exact location where it is found and person who found it can submit such treasure to nearest government office or to collector. After this collector may publish notice to all claimants in relation to treasure found and would mention its near value, location where it was found and ask all claimants to appear on given date in collectors office, and if there is any claimant then he has to collect either before four months or he can collect it after six months this period of claim starts after the publication is made, collector will even with special writing give notice to that person who lastly hold treasure.
Other provisions
The Union government may purchase, take lease of, or accept as a gift any protected monument. In other cases, the government may enter into an agreement with the owner of the monument to ensure that it is maintained, not defaced or altered, and access permitted to the public. If a protected monument does not have an owner, the government can assume guardianship. It can also use the “public purpose” provision of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 to compulsorily acquire a monument (and pay compensation using the principles laid down in that Act). There are special provisions for places of worship that ensure that there is access for religious usage and any customary restrictions are followed. There are also provisions to protect archaeological sites and restrict activities such as mining, blasting and construction in such areas. The government can also restrict the moving of any antiquity, and may also compulsorily acquire antiquities.
The government has introduced the National Commission for Heritage Sites Bill, 2009 in Rajya Sabha. Currently, the Archaeological Survey of India maintains 3, 667 monuments and sites, and state governments protect 3, 573 monuments. In addition, there are a large number of unprotected monuments and sites; there is no comprehensive list of such sites. This Bill seeks to establish a commission that would notify heritage sites, and maintain a roster of these sites. The commission will also recommend policies to conserve, protect and maintain such sites. It can also issue directions to any person owning such site to provide access to the site for its maintenance.
