NMCM’s Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar (MGMD) initiative: village-level cultural mapping and clarifications on registration, data and integration
Ministry of Culture clarifies that the Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar portal documents village cultural heritage but does not register artists or provide welfare support
- The initiative documents village-level cultural heritage through village profiles and records cultural information on artists, artisans, cultural practitioners, cultural institutions and folk-art groups wherever available.
- The portal maintains information village-wise and does not maintain category-wise data or State-wise registered lists of artists, artisans or cultural practitioners.
- The Mission does not provide for registration of artists and does not provide financial assistance, insurance or social security support.
- The Ministry of Culture says there is no provision at present for integrating the cultural-mapping database with tourism, education or skill development initiatives.
The Ministry of Culture has clarified the scope of the National Mission on Cultural Mapping (NMCM) and its Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar (MGMD) initiative. The government says MGMD is meant for village-level cultural mapping and documentation of cultural heritage, not for registration or welfare delivery for artists and cultural practitioners.
What the Ministry of Culture said
In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that MGMD documents cultural information linked to villages across India. The recorded material includes information on artists, artisans, cultural practitioners, cultural institutions and folk-art groups, wherever such information is available.
UPSC can frame this topic around the design limits of cultural-mapping schemes: the National Mission on Cultural Mapping documents village heritage and cultural assets, but it is not an artist-registration or welfare-delivery platform. A mains answer can discuss the value of documentation for heritage preservation alongside the need for separate institutional mechanisms for livelihood support, insurance, and social security for cultural workers.
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