Bikaner (Rajasthan), March 29 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday, in his Mann Ki Baat address to the nation, mentioned 'Abhay Jain Granthalaya', a library housing ancient manuscripts.

Speaking to IANS, Abhay Jain Granthalaya's director Rishabh Nahata expressed his happiness after the mention of the 'granthalaya' in PM Modi's Mann Ki Baat.

"It is a matter of great pride and happiness. It is an honour not only for the 'granthalaya' but also for Bikaner and the entire Rajasthan."

He said that the 'granthalaya' houses a vast collection of around 200,000 manuscripts, which were collected over a lifetime by Agar Chand Nahata. "He dedicated his body, mind, and wealth to building this library. The collection includes texts in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Gurmukhi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, and several other languages," Rishabh Nahata said.

He emphasised that under the Ministry of Culture’s Gyan Bharat Mission, work related to digitisation, conservation, and cataloguing is currently being carried out at the library.

Notably, the Centre's Gyan Bharatam Mission aims to safeguard India's manuscript heritage by bringing it into the digital age.

"Additionally, a mega survey is underway as part of the Gyan Bharatam Mission," he said

Nahata also appealed to people who possess old or ancient manuscripts to come forward, participate in the survey, and share information about their collections "so that the government can work on preserving them and spreading their significance further".

He further explained that this work began after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the Gyan Bharatam Mission in October last year. "Since then, digitisation and conservation efforts have been ongoing. So far, more than 200,000 pages have been digitised, and approximately 6,600 manuscripts have been processed," he said.

He added that this work takes considerable time, "as it involves scanning, digitisation, cataloguing, and conservation, all of which require following proper procedures."

Regarding the age of the manuscripts, Rishabh Nahata said, "They range from around 100 to 400 years old. He also mentioned that the Abhay Jain Granthalaya itself is about 100 years old, which explains why it holds such a rich collection of ancient manuscripts."

--IANS

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