ONGC takes call: Save India's cultural heritage, it's too precious

By Gurdip Singh & Shabbir Ahmed

New Delhi, Jan 22 (UNI) Foreigners often wonder at the deplorable state of India's monuments, many of them now in a state of decay with poor upkeep, notwithstanding their formidable historical importance. There is a strong view among intellectuals that if the country were to maintain its monuments and other cultural heritage, it would be on the world map of tourism.The Romans love their relics and every evening a huge mass of people gather at these monuments to get a glimpse of what the Roman Empire was like.The British too are known to relish their history, culture and their glorious past, with London being a testimony to this. The reasons are not too far to see, for they not too long back ruled nearly half the world. So are the Egyptians too proud of their ancestry as are many other countries of the world. Indian culture which travelled far and wide is a paradoxical quagmire. For it may seem strange that countries to where it travelled have a better sense of maintaining monuments that draw inspiration from India's culture. An example of this are the Angkor Vat temples in Cambodia, which have pictorial drawings of 'Hanuman', a disciple of Lord Rama who was a monkey.They also have scenes from 'Ramayana,' the narration of Lord Rama's 14-year exile in wilderness. But there is a growing realisation, including among corporates, that Samaritans will do a yeomen service, if they get into the business of saving the precious cultural heritage of the wonder that is India.A proud Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, the country's largest oil explorer, last evening announced plans of restoration and conservation of monuments of Ahom Kings at Sibsagar in Assam.The other identified sites that ONGC will take up for the purpose in the areas are Ranghar Ruins, Karenghar, Garhgaon and group of maidams. ONGC CMD R S Sharma said that the company has set apart two per cent of its Profit After Tax (PAT) for activities relating to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).The amount would roughly work out to be Rs 300 crore plus and entail activities like education and health.Recently, it entered into providing hemophilic services, a tragic condition where blood of a patient does not clot normally.The oil major, whose profits were of the order of Rs 3,054 crore for the third quarter of the current financial year, recently entered into a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with National Cultural Fund, a trust under the Ministry of Culture of the Government of India.As per the agreement, ONGC is to take up various projects for conservation and restoration of culture and heritage. As per the MoC, the first project that is to be taken up is for the conservation, renovation and restoration of the monuments of Ahom Kings.Mr Sharma confessed that the CSR activities of the company have so far been 'adhoc' in nature, but ONGC has decided to put these on a sound footing.For this purpose, a core group at the level of the company has been set up to work out various details.The Assam project is to be implemented in cooperation with the Archaeological Survey of India and the company has sought details from the preservator for appointment of architectural and other consultants. Mr Sharma said ONGC was in talks with the State Government for restoration of these monuments.The head of ONGC gave two important reasons as to why Assam, one of the seven sisters of the North Eastern States, was chosen for the purpose. First, it has exploration business in the operational area in Sibsagar. Secondly, there were wild rumours that ONGC is selling its business to a private corporate entity.With a view to establishing facts to the contrary, ONGC decidedto take upthe work of maintenance of these monuments.Bathed in the scenic splendour of nature, Sibsagar now throbs with the activities of a full-fledged industrial town. Nevertheless, the district can still conjure up images of historic wonder and obtained its pinnacle during the reign of Ahom Kings. This is the place from which the 'Ahoms' ruled the province of Assam from 1228 to 1826.At present, Sibsagar presents the unique spectacle of industrial transformation of a silent town in the backdrop of relics of bygone days. Situated at a distance of 350 km from Guwahati, the capital of Assam, Sibsagar (earlier known as Rongpur) was the capital of the Ahom Kingdom since 1699 to 1788. The town, dedicated to Lord Siva--its name literally meaning the ocean of Shiva--is strewn with tell-tale ruins of a powerful empire. There is growing consciousness among the corporate world to get into the act of preserving cultural heritage.Recently, Associate Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) announced plans for maintenance of monuments and other cultural activities.The apex chamber, which obviously focuses on lobbying for corporate interests, recently saw a change of guard.Ms Swati Piramal of the famous Piramal Industries has changed both the agenda and the profile of the activities of the chamber.Ms Piramal, President of Assocham, has brought in women at the helm of 75 per cent of its Committees. The imaginative lady has brought into its fold programmes like breast feeding and maintenance of culture.Cairn India, a private sector oil exploration firm, set up a platform in the capital to sell the wears of fine craftsmen from the district of Barmer, a desert area, in Rajasthan. And yet Barmer is colourful because of its handicraft.The others who held hands with Cairn included International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector funder of the World Bank, and Access Development Services, a livelihood promotion agency.Any number of top notch companies sponsor programmes like Indian classical dance, photography, paintings and what have you.This has led to another worry as to whether India's culture will become too dependent for money for its preservation and maintenance.If it does so, it may lose its originality and become too commercialised.Being a developing country, resources are always a constraint.The government's record on maintenance of monuments leaves much to be desired.It is, thus, both a matter of glory as also a source of concern that corporates are coming forward to saving India's cultural heritage.But then what else is the solution? The puritans of culture will have to find the answer.