National Mission on Cultural Mapping of India
The Ministry of Culture has launched the
implementation of the ‘‘National Mission on
Cultural Mapping of India’ under the
Government of India’s ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha
Bharat’ initiative in June 2017.
The Mission was launched in Mathura, Uttar
Pradesh as a part of commemoration of the
birth centenary of Pandit Deen Dayal
Upadhyay.
What is Cultural Mapping?
As per UNESCO, culture refers to knowledge,
beliefs, art, morals, laws, customs acquired by
human as a member of society.
Cultural mapping is the process of
identification and recording of cultural
resources/assets of a community located in a
specific geographical region. This includes
tangible resources such as arts and crafts as
well as intangible assets such as customs,
stories and traditions among others.
Why Cultural Mapping is required?
India, being the home of one of the oldest
civilizations in the world, boasts of a very rich
and diverse cultural heritage. However, a
number of cultural arts and practices have
been lost with the passage of time due to lack
of required support. Hence, there is an urgent
need to identify and preserve India’s vibrant
cultural diversity.
What is the NMCMI all about?
The National Mission on Cultural Mapping of
India (NMCMI) has been launched with a
focus on:
 Conversion of vast and widespread
cultural canvas of India into an objective
cultural map;
 Designing a mechanism to fulfil
aspirations of the whole artist community
of the nation; and
 Preservation of rich cultural heritage of
this country in the form of a cultural
repository of artists and art forms.
This includes data mapping, demography
building and bringing all the cultural activities
at a single online platform.
Key Features of NMCMI
Under the NMCMI, the Ministry of Culture
seeks to provide opportunities to artists
through opening of communication channels
at peer-to-peer as well as Government levels.
Further, the Ministry plans to hold talent hunt
competitions from Block level to National
level. The scheme aims to cover all blocks of
the country, involving a total of 6.40 lakh
villages over the span of next three years.
Cultural Mapping of India portal
As a part of the Mission, an online portal
namely ‘The Cultural Mapping of India Portal’
is to be developed to serve as database of
information about cultural assets and
resources.
Benefits of NMCMI
The Mission will aid in:
 Providing better access to information for
inclusive planning;
 Effective implementation of various
Government schemes;
 Preservation of scattered and near extinct
art forms;
 Timely interventions for identifying and
nurturing existing talent through;
 Worldwide promotion of Indian artistry
and culture talent.
Ravi Bhati