Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Tuesday, 16 June 2026 stated that the state has completed a survey of more than 16 lakh manuscripts under the Centre's Gyan Bharatam Mission, and that artificial intelligence is now being used to translate these ancient texts into 13 languages for younger generations.

Context

In his post, CM Sharma credited the initiative to the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, writing that the government is 'preserving our ancient knowledge tradition through the Gyan Bharatam Mission.' He described it as a matter of pride that approximately 25 per cent of the country's manuscripts are held in private and family collections within Rajasthan. The CM affirmed that the government is 'committed to safeguarding this invaluable heritage.'

Policy Backdrop

The effort builds on a long arc of manuscript conservation policy in India. The National Mission for Manuscripts, launched in 2003 by the Ministry of Culture, laid the groundwork for surveying, digitising, and conserving the country's manuscript wealth. The Gyan Bharatam Mission represents a newer phase of this work, aligning with the broader emphasis on Indian Knowledge Systems embedded in the National Education Policy 2020.

Rajasthan, with its centuries-old tradition of princely patronage for scholarship, holds manuscripts across languages including Sanskrit, Rajasthani, Persian, and Prakrit. The state's private and family-held collections have long been considered among the richest in the country, making it a critical node in any national documentation drive.

Stakeholders and Impact

The survey and translation effort touches several groups. Manuscript owners — many of them families who have preserved these texts across generations — are central to the documentation process, as surveyors must access private holdings. Research scholars stand to gain significantly from AI-assisted cataloguing and translation, which can reduce the time required to make rare texts accessible.

For students and younger audiences, translation into 13 languages is the most immediate point of access — allowing texts that were previously locked behind archaic scripts or regional languages to reach a far wider readership. The use of AI in this context also signals a convergence between heritage policy and the government's broader technology push.

What's Next

The immediate focus will be on expanding the AI-assisted translation pipeline and ensuring surveyed manuscripts are linked to national repositories. Announcements around a centralised digital archive or a public-facing exhibition of Rajasthan's manuscript wealth could follow as the mission scales. Scholars and cultural institutions will be watching whether the translation quality across all 13 languages meets academic standards, particularly for highly specialised philosophical or scientific texts.

As central and state governments deepen their collaboration on heritage digitisation, Rajasthan's model — combining grassroots survey work with modern AI tools — may serve as a template for other manuscript-rich states to follow.