New Delhi: Politicians, heritage activists and citizens have raised their voice against a move by the Indian government to privatise the maintenance of historic monuments in the country.
The outburst follows the tourism ministry announcing a five-year contract worth Rs 250 million ($3.7 million) with the Dalmia Bharat conglomerate for the 17th-century Red Fort in Delhi and another fort in the southern Andhra Pradesh state.
While the Congress party has questioned how Dalmia Bharat, a private entity, has been given the mandate to maintain the Unesco World Heritage site, the move has also come under strong attack from historians, who claim corporates are no heritage experts.
But government officials are wondering why the opposition is criticising the “handover” of the Red Fort, as a multiparty parliamentary panel had recently praised the ‘Adopt a Heritage’ scheme, under which the deal has been sealed.
As per news reports, “On March 6, the parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture, chaired by Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha member Derek O’Brien, had said in its report on the demand by the tourism ministry for 2018-19, that “the committee notes that the initiative of Adopt a Heritage is a welcome step on the part of the Ministry of Tourism.” It added, “The committee recommends that under the corporate social responsibility, major corporate (houses) may be compelled to adopt heritage sites.
The committee also recommended “the detailed plans for improvement of infrastructure and basic amenities have to be laid down by the ministry/government agencies and it should not be left to the discretion of the organisations, which are adopting the heritage sites. Experience and experimentation in the initial two or three projects will make all the difference in planning for other future projects that the ministry will take up for development.”
However, on April 24, when the tourism ministry announced that MoUs had been signed with Dalmia Bharat on April 9, all hell broke loose. On Saturday, O’Brien tweeted, “Wah! So here is acche din. Red Fort being sold? Now other national treasures ready to be auctioned to highest bidder. As Chairman Parliament Committee of Transport Tourism and Culture, can say matter was still being ‘discussed’. Pledge to stop this.”
Later, in a statement the TMC said, “No one in the committee approved all this wholesale sale. Committee said it was open to exploring toilets and water. Government announced and signed MoU with Dalmia without consulting. Read the MoU. It is a virtual lease of the property and turning Red Fort into a Disneyland.”
Countering the opposition remarks, Indresh Kumar, member, national executive, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, said, “Instead of welcoming the government’s move, unnecessary controversy is being created. It highlights the government’s intent to move to the next level regarding country’s development. Preservation and development (under CSR) will go a long way.”
Even as the brouhaha over the issue continues and missives fly thick and fast, Khurshid Ahmed Saiyed, Chairman, Minority Department, All India Congress Committee, said: “Letting corporate houses adopt historical monuments undermines the role and work of the ASI. The government could have increased the budgetary allocation to meet the needs of maintaining and conserving the monuments. But the Bharatiya Janata Party is set to sell India. When it cannot take care of the country’s monuments, how will it take care of the country?”
Meanwhile, in a statement, Dalmia Bharat said it would commence work on May 23. It plans to complete the front façade lighting before handing it over temporarily to security agencies in July. This will be done due to the sanitisation measures taken for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s last Independence speech of his present five-year tenure.
What is the controversy?
Last year, on World Tourism Day (September 27), President Ram Nath Kovind launched the government’s scheme for preserving India’s past for the future, with the idea to promote sustainable tourism through conservation and development. The government allowed private and public sector corporations to adopt most of India’s top heritage sites. It approved 31 agencies for the upkeep of 95 monuments, under ‘Adopt a Heritage — Aapki Dharohar Aapki Penchaan’ scheme. The agencies, to be known as ‘Monument Mitras’, would help the culture ministry in the upkeep of the sites. In return, they would be allowed to advertise in the premises as per the ASI rules.
The companies would be responsible for building, operating and maintaining tourism infrastructure including providing amenities such as toilets, drinking water facilities, canteens and accessibility for the disabled, at these monuments and natural heritage sites. The technical preservation and restoration will be taken care of by the ASI. The makeover will not involve any changes to the structure of the monument. The ministry of tourism said the government was only giving limited access for upkeep and maintenance. This was to provide world-class facilities to tourists adhering to government motto of ‘Incredible India’.
Sohail Hashmi, a heritage enthusiast, who also conducts heritage walks in Delhi, questions, “Out of the more than 3,000 monuments the ASI protects, why only the Red Fort was singled out? I am not surprised if Taj Mahal goes next. In the last four years, there has been a wilful neglect of what is being branded as Islamic heritage, as if heritage can be divided along denominational lines. Whatever it be, we are not ready to see Dalmia Lal Qila!”
On why the government could not depend on ASI, Hashmi says, “The problem is, for many decades, senior archaeologists have not headed the ASI. Senior bureaucrats are appointed — some of who are totally indifferent to conservation, while others are transferred in some time. There’s also the constant tussle among them as to which ministry will look after monuments. In this process, the monuments have suffered.”
As for the amount to be spent for Red Fort’s upkeep, Hashmi said, “To generate Rs 50 million, all that the country needs is just over 300 foreign tourists paying Rs 500 per visit for 300 days a year.” He further suggested, “Before getting into the ‘business’ of conservation, the government and corporates should see how they do it all over the world.”
Red Fort: The Monument
The history of the Red Fort dates back to the time when Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan transferred his capital from Agra to Delhi in 1639. Commissioned around that time, the Fort was completed after nine years on April 16, 1648. The entire structure is known to have cost Rs 5 million. Also called the Lal Qila because of the red colour of the stone largely used, it is laid out along the river Yamuna.
The entire structure measures about 900 metres by 550 metres, with rampart walls covering a perimeter of 2.41 kilometre and rising to a height of 33.5 metre on the town side and 18 metre along the river. The palaces lie along the eastern side of the Fort while two imposing three-storeyed main gateways — the Delhi Gate and the Lahori Gate are in the centre of the western and southern sides. The main entrance to the Fort lies through the Lahori Gate.
The Fort was designed architecturally in such a manner that the emperor sitting on the throne was visible from wherever one stood in the two massive halls — Diwan-i-Khas (hall of private audience) and Diwan-i-Aam (hall of public audience). The Diwan-i-Khas was used by the emperor for giving private audience to the selected courtiers and visitors, whereas the Diwan-i-Aam served the general public.
When the Britishers conquered the Red Fort, following the 1857 mutiny, a large number of buildings were demolished. These made room for barracks for soldiers and bear scars of vandalism. Although the ASI was established in 1861, it paid little heed towards conserving the Fort. The deplorable condition was paid attention to and the Fort accorded the status of a palace monument only after 1899 when Lord Curzon became the Viceroy. It saw better treatment and the lost glory was regained on August 15, 1947, when the Indian tricolor was hoisted on the Red Fort on Independence Day by the first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru. The tradition to hoist the national flag and deliver a speech from its ramparts continues.
List
Several states have bagged the awards for adoption of India’s most-visited heritage sites. These include:
Qutub Minar, Delhi
Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh
Agha Khan Palace, Pune, Maharashtra
Lotus Mahal, Hampi, Karnataka
Chittorgarh Fort, Chittorgarh, Rajasthan
Sunderbans National Park, West Bengal
Ramappa Temple, Palampet, Telangana
