74 of the 92 missing centrally protected monuments traced: Centre

Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy pointed out at the efforts of ASI to trace the missing untraceable monuments and said, 'The exercise gave fruitful results as 74 monuments have been traced out'.

New Delhi: The performance audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India in 2013 had stated that 92 protected monuments were found missing, but 74 of them have been traced, the Centre informed Parliament on Thursday.

Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy in a written response to a query in Rajya Sabha also said the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Delhi to undertake a 'comprehensive examination' of various issues related to safety and security of protected monuments.

He (Reddy) was asked whether the "government is aware of the Standing Committee report that identified 92 Centrally Protected Monuments (CPMs) as 'missing' and the steps taken to locate and restore those missing monuments."

The ASI is tasked with protection of centrally protected monuments.

"The performance Audit Report of Comptroller and Auditor General of India in 2013 had stated that 92 protected monuments were found missing," he said in his response.

The minister further said that, "Vigorous efforts to locate/identify the reportedly untraceable monuments, based on old records, revenue maps and referring published reports, were carried out by ASI. The exercise gave fruitful results and out of 92 monuments, 74 monuments have been traced out," Reddy added.

Multi-tasking staff has been posted for watch and ward at protected monuments and sites. Further, at selected monuments, private security personnel as well as CISF are provided and periodic inspection is also carried out, the minister added.