Ministry of Culture (India)

Ministry of Culture (India)
	Branch of Government of India
	Ministry of Culture
Agency overview
Jurisdiction	Government of India
Headquarters	C-wing; Shastri Bhawan; New Delhi
Annual budget	₹3,399.65 crore (US$480 million) (2023-24 est.)
Ministers responsible	Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Cabinet Minister; Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State;
Website	www.indianculture.gov.in

The Ministry of Culture is the Indian government ministry charged with preservation and promotion of art and culture of India.

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is the current Minister of Culture. Recently the government has established the National Mission on Libraries India under this ministry.^[2]

History[edit | edit source]

The body now known as the Ministry of Culture was originally established as the Department of Culture in 1971.

For its first 14 years, it was administered as a department under the Ministry of Education and Social Welfare (later the Ministry of Education and Culture).

In 1985, as part of a government-wide administrative re-organisation, the Department of Culture was moved and placed under the newly created Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD).

This arrangement continued until 1999, when the department was separated from the HRD Ministry and briefly merged with another portfolio to form the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

This combined ministry was bifurcated on 27 May 2006, leading to the creation of a standalone, cabinet-level Ministry of Culture and a separate Ministry of Tourism. Since 2006, the Ministry of Culture has functioned as an independent ministry within the Government of India.

Characteristics[edit | edit source]

The restoration of ancient idols smuggled out of India comes under the Ministry of Culture.

As of 1 October 2021, the Government of India has recovered 211 idols.^[3] Till 2014 only 13 idols were recovered. 198 idols have been restored since 2014.

In June 2022, more than 10 idols were recovered and handed over to the Tamil Nadu Idol Rescue Unit. 228 idols have been recovered till 2022.^[4]

Total no of recovered Artifacts ^[3]
Year	Total No of Artifacts
1976	1
1979	1
1986	3
1990	1
1991	2
1999	2
2000	1
2001	1
2013	1
2014	2
2015	3
2016	14
2017	9
2018	2
2019	2
2020	8
2021	158
2022	30

Organisation[edit | edit source]

Attached offices
- Archaeological Survey of India
- Central Secretariat Library
- National Archives of India
Subordinate offices
- Anthropological Survey of India, Kolkata
- Central Reference Library, Kolkata
- National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property, Lucknow
- National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi
- National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai
- National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru
- National Library of India, Kolkata
- National Museum, New Delhi
Autonomous organisations
- National Mission for Manuscripts, Delhi
- Allahabad Museum, Prayagraj
- Asiatic Society, Kolkata
- Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, Jammu and Kashmir
- Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS)
- Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, New Delhi
- Delhi Public Library, Delhi
- Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, New Delhi
- Indian Museum, Kolkata
- Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi
- Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manava Sangrahalaya, Bhopal
- Kalakshetra Foundation, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai
- Khuda Baksh Oriental Public Library, Patna
- Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi
- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS), Kolkata
- National Council of Science Museums, Kolkata
- National Museum Institute of the History of Art, Conservation and Museology (NMIHACM), Delhi
- National School of Drama, New Delhi
- Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Nalanda, Bihar
- Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi (Teen Murti Bhavan)
- Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation, Kolkata, registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961^[5]
- Raza Library, Rampur
- Sahitya Akademi (SA), New Delhi
- Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad
- Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), New Delhi
- Saraswathi Mahal Library, Tanjore
- Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata
Zonal Cultural Centers (based on Cultural Zones of India)
Public Sector Undertakings
- National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation

List of ministers[edit | edit source]

Cabinet Ministers[edit | edit source]

Portrait	Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
Portrait	Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	From	To	Period	Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
	Ananth Kumar (1959–2018) MP for Bangalore South	13 October 1999	1 September 2001	1 year, 323 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee III	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
	Maneka Gandhi (born 1956) MP for Pilibhit (MoS, I/C)	1 September 2001	18 November 2001	78 days
	Jagmohan (1927–2021) MP for New Delhi	18 November 2001	22 May 2004	2 years, 186 days
	Jaipal Reddy (1942–2018) MP for Miryalguda	23 May 2004	29 January 2006	1 year, 251 days	Indian National Congress	Manmohan I	Manmohan Singh
	Ambika Soni (born 1942) MP for Punjab (Rajya Sabha)	29 January 2006	22 May 2009	3 years, 113 days		Manmohan I
	Manmohan Singh (1932–2024) MP for Assam (Rajya Sabha) (Prime Minister)	22 May 2009	19 January 2011	1 year, 242 days		Manmohan II
	Selja Kumari (born 1962) MP for Ambala	19 January 2011	28 October 2012	1 year, 283 days
	Chandresh Kumari Katoch (born 1944) MP for Jodhpur	28 October 2012	26 May 2014	1 year, 210 days
	Shripad Naik (born 1952) MP for North Goa (MoS, I/C)	26 May 2014	9 November 2014	167 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi I	Narendra Modi
	Mahesh Sharma (born 1959) MP for Gautam Buddh Nagar (MoS, I/C)	9 November 2014	30 May 2019	4 years, 202 days		Modi I
	Prahlad Singh Patel (born 1960) MP for Damoh (MoS, I/C)	31 May 2019	7 July 2021	2 years, 37 days		Modi II
	G. Kishan Reddy (born 1964) MP for Secunderabad	7 July 2021	11 June 2024	5 years, 68 days		Modi II
	Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (born 1967) MP for Jodhpur	11 June 2024	Incumbent	2 years, 94 days		Modi III

Ministers of State[edit | edit source]

Portrait	Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
Portrait	Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	From	To	Period	Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
	Kanti Singh (born 1957) MP for Arrah	6 April 2008	22 May 2009	1 year, 46 days	Rashtriya Janata Dal	Manmohan I	Manmohan Singh
	Arjun Ram Meghwal (born 1953) MP for Bikaner	7 July 2021	11 June 2024	2 years, 340 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi II	Narendra Modi
	Meenakshi Lekhi (born 1967) MP for New Delhi	7 July 2021	11 June 2024	2 years, 340 days		Modi II
	Rao Inderjit Singh (born 1951) MP for Gurgaon	11 June 2024	Incumbent	2 years, 94 days		Modi III

References[edit | edit source]

↑ "The annual outlay for Ministry of Culture in FY 2023-24 increased by 12.97% to Rs. 3,399.65 Crore".
↑ "About : NML". Archived from the original on 1 November 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 "In 7 years, Modi govt brought back 198 ancient artefacts from abroad". October 2021.
↑ "Year End Review 2022: Ministry of Culture".
↑ "About RRRLF". Archived from the original on 11 September 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2014.

External links[edit | edit source]

[1] "The annual outlay for Ministry of Culture in FY 2023-24 increased by 12.97% to Rs. 3,399.65 Crore".

[2] "About : NML". Archived from the original on 1 November 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.

[pp-3] 3.0 ^3.1 "In 7 years, Modi govt brought back 198 ancient artefacts from abroad". October 2021.

[4] "Year End Review 2022: Ministry of Culture".

[5] "About RRRLF". Archived from the original on 11 September 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2014.

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