Heritage department eyes CSR spend to save monuments in Karnataka

MYSURU: The department of archaeology, museums, and heritage has decided to turn citizens into stakeholders to help preserve heritage structures of history. To that end, the department has launched 'Adopt a Monument' that will enable citizens to adopt such historic structures. Thus far, the department has floated an expression of interest (EoI) for 34 monuments across the state - the Adinatha Jain Basadi in KR Nagar, Mysuru, Srirangapatna Fort in Mandya, Raja's Tomb in Kodagu, among others.
Of the 34 structures, an EoI was floated for five monuments in the first phase, while the remaining 29 sites were put up for 'adoption' in the second phase. Given that many a historic monument in the state is in desperate need of repair, and regular maintenance, the department is pinning its hopes on interested citizens to share the responsibility of their upkeep, while hoping for private companies to sanction funds from their corpus of corporate social responsibility (CSR) towards conservation initiatives.

Commissioner of the department of archaeology, museums, and heritage, Devaraju said, “At the Global Investors’ Meet scheduled to be held from November 2 to 4, we will invite private companies to collaborate with us to help preserve the heritage structures. We will have a dedicated stall at the convention to attract companies that can lend financial assistance so our monuments can be saved for posterity.”
Officials in the department privy to the developments said that companies interested in doing their bit for the preservation of visible remnants of the past would be asked to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government. “The MoU will be inked for a five-year period. Companies can ink the MoU binding them to provide funds for basic conservation or development of basic facilities, or development of advanced infrastructure at the monuments,” said an official, adding that the department would retain ownership of the monuments, while the company would be entrusted the responsibility of maintenance and conservation.
Devaraju said that deputy commissioners had been asked to make an appeal to the companies seeking assistance to preserve historic structures in their respective districts. “The chief minister is expected to write to the private companies seeking their support to promote the ‘adopt a monument’ initiative,” he said.