Under the initiative, a national headquarters for Gyan Bharatam will be established in Delhi, including a large manuscript repository. Regional centres will be formed through partnerships with state-level institutions at different locations, depending on the collection.

“One of the objectives is to first do a survey and cataloguing of all the manuscripts which are there all across the country, then to create a digital repository. Then, to create a mechanism for extracting the knowledge from these manuscripts and disseminating that knowledge across various sections of society, depending on the type of manuscript that we have," said Secretary (culture) Vivek Aggarwal.   

"There are a lot of custodians in various libraries, in various institutions, even in private collections. So, this would be an alliance or partnership which would be fostered across the country,” he said.

The conference is a kick-off conference to create an implementable strategy for Gyan Bharatam, he added.

Aggrawal further noted that the participants of the conference belong to diverse backgrounds: academicians, government and private administrators, research scholars, and students. 

During one of the sessions, experts and professionals are likely to present their findings on attempts to decipher the Harappan script, which has been a challenge for archaeologists, epigraphists, scientists, and others.

According to the officials, before embarking on the conservation journey, the Government wants to have the confidence of the custodians to participate fully and voluntarily in the process. The conference is an attempt in that direction.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also speak at the event.

All eight working groups will make their presentations before him. The valedictory session on September 13 will be chaired by Home Minister Shah.

Aggrawal said that on the basis of deliberations, the Delhi Declaration on manuscripts will be adopted.