PANAJI
Identifying, notifying and preserving tangible and intangible heritage and historic monuments situated on private properties apart from revenue generation by way of imposing entry fees would be the focus areas of the State’s first Heritage Policy, which is currently in drafting phase.
The formulation of the policy, is however, moving at a snail’s pace.
More than ten months since its constitution, the 15-member monitoring committee for drafting Heritage Policy has so far held only two meetings.
The initial deadline of six months to submit the draft report has already lapsed and recently, four additional members were co-opted on the committee.
The State government in December 2023 constituted the committee under Secretary Archaeology to draft the policy in consultation with experts and the general public by seeking their inputs. The committee has to also scrutinize the draft policy before submitting it to the government for approval.
Highly placed sources informed that the policy will focus on maintaining State’s most cherished tangible and intangible heritage, which requires different approaches for preservation and safeguarding.
Tangible heritage includes buildings and historic places, monuments, artifacts, etc., which are considered worthy of preservation for the future. Tangible cultural heritage has a physical presence, whereas the intangible heritage includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge, traditional crafts, food etc.
Sources also said that policy will focus on identifying and notifying historic monuments situated on private properties and generate revenue by way of imposing entry fees.
The proposed heritage policy aims to provide financial support to property owners for monument upkeep while ensuring the preservation of historic monuments, sources added.
Despite several attempts, Minister for Archives and Archaeology Subhash Faldesai remained unavailable for comments.
During the July 2023 monsoon session of the State Assembly, the Minister had promised to draft a heritage policy for Goa within a year.
According to the government, there are 51 monuments of archaeological importance protected under the 'State list' while another 21 are under the Archaeology Survey of India (ASI).
In addition, some 400 private heritage buildings are listed under the Town and Country Planning Act.
