Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Thursday, 11 June 2026, invoked India's civilisational diversity as a defining national strength, marking twelve years of the ruling government's twin focus on development and heritage conservation under the campaign theme 'Vikas Bhi Virasat Bhi' (Development as well as Heritage).

Context

Posting on X and tagging the Ministry of Culture, Shekhawat wrote: 'Vividhata hamari khubsurti hai aur pichhle ek dasak mein ise bahut achhe se sanjoya aur saheja gaya hai' — 'Diversity is our beauty, and over the past decade it has been preserved and cherished very well.' The message was accompanied by the hashtags #12YearsofVikasBhiVirasatBhi and #CultureUnitesAll, signalling a coordinated government communication push to mark the milestone.

The phrase Vikas Bhi Virasat Bhi has been a central slogan of the BJP-led government since 2014, framing cultural preservation not as a heritage-sector concern alone but as inseparable from the broader development agenda. The minister's post continues that established messaging line into the government's current term.

Policy Backdrop

The Ministry of Culture has anchored its decade-long record on several flagship initiatives. The Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat programme, launched in 2015, pairs states and union territories to promote mutual cultural understanding through festivals, exhibitions and student exchanges — directly embodying the 'unity in diversity' principle Shekhawat referenced.

The Adopt a Heritage scheme, introduced in 2017, opened protected monuments to corporate and public-sector entities for maintenance and tourism-amenity development, broadening the stakeholder base for conservation. Together, these programmes reflect a policy design that treats India's diverse cultural landscape as both a national identity asset and an economic driver through tourism.

India has also pursued an expanded pipeline of UNESCO World Heritage nominations during this period, and the government has promoted domestic heritage circuits to channel tourist footfall to lesser-known sites across regions.

Stakeholders and Impact

State governments are primary partners in executing both Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat pairings and heritage circuit development, making their cooperation central to the ministry's outcomes. Heritage practitioners — archaeologists, craftspersons, performing artists — stand to benefit from sustained institutional attention and funding flows directed through the ministry.

Domestic tourists represent the third key stakeholder group, as improved monument infrastructure and cultural programming directly shapes their access to India's heritage. The minister's emphasis on diversity as a unifying force also carries a social messaging dimension, positioning cultural plurality as a source of national cohesion rather than division.

What's Next

Observers will watch the next Union Budget for Ministry of Culture allocations, which will indicate whether the rhetorical commitment to heritage conservation is matched by fresh financial outlays. Any new state pairings announced under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, or additions to the Adopt a Heritage roster, will be the clearest near-term signals of programmatic momentum beyond the anniversary messaging.

As India continues to position its civilisational heritage as a soft-power asset on the global stage, the government's ability to translate campaign milestones into measurable conservation and tourism outcomes will define the legacy of this twelve-year arc.