Ministry Of Culture Announces 7 New ASI Circles – Free PDF

• The Union Ministry of Culture on Wednesday announced the setting up of seven new administrative circles of the the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)
• In order to improve the management of monuments.

Archaeological Survey of India

• The ASI, under the Ministry of Culture, is the premier organization for the archaeological researches and protection of the cultural heritage of the nation.
• It was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham who also became its first Director-General.
• It regulate all archaeological activities in the country as per the provisions of-
• The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.,
• Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and
• Remains Rules, 1959 and
• Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2010.
• For the maintenance of ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains of national importance the entire country is divided into 29 Circles.

• The ASI also administers three “mini-circles” at Delhi, Leh and Hampi.
• Every circle is headed by a Superintending Archaeologist.
• Each of the circles are further divided into sub-circles.

• At present, the Archaeological Survey of India is taking care for protection and preservation of more than 3675 centrally protected monuments and sites all over the country.
• There are 44 Site Museums under the jurisdiction of Archaeological Survey of India.

7 New circle created

• Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh),
• Trichy (Tamil Nadu),
• Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh),
• Meerut (Uttar Pradesh),
• Hampi (Karnataka),
• Raiganj (West Bengal),
• Rajkot (Gujarat)

Important update

• The Hampi mini circle has been upgraded to a circle.
• The Delhi mini circle has been merged with the Delhi circle.

Importance of creating new circles?

• In a large State like Tamil Nadu, which has thousands of temples and glorious memories of the Chola kings, Trichy has been made a new circle, along with the circle of Chennai.

Criticism

• The development would not serve any purpose but might lead to neglect of ‘small and lesser’ monuments and historic buildings.
• The merger will divert attention from lesser-known buildings, which were under Mini Circle.
• In the last four years, conservation of small sites but significant ones such as Kashmere Gate, Shalimar Bagh, and Kotla Feroz Shah was undertaken.
• The focus will be on bigger heritage structures like Qutub Minar now.
• Both branches are the custodian of 170 heritage sites in the national capital jointly.
• Mini Circle was in charge of 64 buildings.
• Officials also believe that the merger will also result in less budget allocation to Delhi.

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