National Mission on Cultural Mapping (NMCM)
The National Mission on Cultural Mapping (NMCM) has surveyed more than one lakh villages.
- NMCM was started to map the cultural assets of rural India.
- For preparing cultural asset maps, villages are generally divided into seven-eight categories.
- The basis for dividing these is whether they are ecologically, developmentally and educationally significant, and whether they are linked to historical or mythological events.
Following are some examples:
- In the ecological category, Bishnoi village near Jodhpur in Rajasthan (for living in harmony with nature) and Raini village in Uttarakhand (Chipko movement) are included.
- In the developmental category, Modhera in Gujarat is included. It is India’s first solar powered village.
Historical Category –
- Kandel (famous water satyagraha site) in Madhya Pradesh,
- Suketi (the oldest fossil park in Asia) in Himachal Pradesh, and
- Hanol village of Uttarakhand and Vidurashyatar of Karnataka (both villages are associated with the Mahabharata period.
- The mapping of cultural assets is done under the ‘Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar’ program of NMCM.
- NMCM was started by the Ministry of Culture in 2017. In the year 2021 it was handed over to Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts (IGNCA).
- It aims to create a comprehensive database of diverse art styles, artists and other resources from across the country.
- The Ministry of Culture has partnered with the Common Service Centers of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) to operate NMCM.
Objectives of NMCM
- To preserve the rich cultural heritage of the country for future generations.
- To create a strong “cultural vibrancy” across the country.
- To convert the vast and comprehensive cultural canvas of the country into an objective cultural mapping.
Source – The Hindu
