Adopt a Heritage

History glossary

Also called: Adopt a Heritage 2.0, AAH, Apni Dharohar Apni Pehchaan · Topic: Studying Indian History: Sources, Dating and Historiography · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Adopt a Heritage is a government scheme in which private companies and other groups, called Monument Mitras (friends of the monument), adopt a protected monument and pay for visitor facilities there. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) keeps full control of conservation, meaning the expert work of protecting and repairing the monument itself. It was launched in 2017 by the Ministry of Tourism, working with the Ministry of Culture and ASI. A revamped version, Adopt a Heritage 2.0, was launched on 4 September 2023.

It matters because it answers a key UPSC question: who is allowed to touch a protected monument? Under the scheme, private money pays for comfort and convenience, while the work on the monument stays with experts.

Explanation

Background: why the scheme was needed

  • The law came first.
  • The AMASR Act, 1958 (Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act) gives ASI its powers.

  • Under it, ASI can declare monuments "protected", control building work around them, and make sure they are conserved.

  • There are too many monuments for one body to look after.

  • The number of centrally protected monuments and sites is 3,688 in a Lok Sabha reply and 3,686 in a 2026 PIB summary.

  • Many of these sites lack basic visitor facilities, such as toilets, drinking water and signboards.

  • The scheme's idea: bring in private resources for visitor services, but do not hand over the monument itself.

  • The scheme's tagline is "Apni Dharohar Apni Pehchaan" ("our heritage, our identity").

Main features: how the work is divided

Who What they do
Monument Mitra (company or private partner) Non-conservation work only: cleaning, washrooms, drinking water, benches, signage (signboards), illumination (lighting)
ASI experts All conservation of the protected monument. ASI either does it or supervises it
Formal agreement Each adoption is signed as an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding, a written agreement)
  • "Adopter" does not mean "owner" or "conservator". The partner improves the visit, not the structure.
  • Corporate partners often fund this work from their CSR (corporate social responsibility) spending. CSR is money that companies set aside for public good.

How it changed: from AAH (2017) to AAH 2.0 (2023)

  • 2017: the Ministry of Tourism launched it, with the Ministry of Culture and ASI.
  • 04.09.2023: the Union Minister of Culture launched the revamped AAH 2.0.
  • 30 MoUs have been signed under AAH 2.0.
  • Some adoptions of forts:
Adopter Site
Dalmia Bharat Red Fort; Gandikota Fort
Bisleri Talabs (water tanks) of Ranthambore Fort; pond of Kalinjar Fort
Drishti Lifesaving Upper Fort Aguada
Ease My Trip Foundation Agra Fort

Results and weak points

  • Gain: better facilities for visitors at well-known sites, paid for by private money.
  • Weak point 1: there is no written conservation rulebook.
  • The scheme relies on ASI experts to protect the monument.
  • But in its 2022 audit, the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General, the government's chief auditor) found that ASI had no conservation policy.

  • So nobody outside ASI can check the work against a fixed standard.

  • Weak point 2: the monument list itself is unreliable.

  • In a joint inspection by CAG and ASI, 92 centrally protected monuments could not be traced.

  • In 2018 the government sorted the missing ones: 24 untraceable, 14 lost to urban growth, 12 under reservoirs or dams.

  • Weak point 3: there is no policy for living monuments.

  • A living monument is one still in use, such as a temple where worship goes on.

  • CAG's 2025 report says ASI still has no policy for them, even though the PAC (Public Accounts Committee) recommended one.

  • Possible bias: companies tend to pick famous sites, so lesser-known monuments still depend on public money.

Time, place and evidence

  • Period: a modern scheme (2017, revamped 2023). It continues a long history of heritage protection in India.
  • Institutional roots (from the study note):
  • Alexander Cunningham was the first Director-General of ASI and is called the "father of Indian archaeology". He chose sites using the travel routes of Chinese Buddhist pilgrims.
  • At Harappa, Cunningham saw the damage done by brick robbers. Enough brick was carried off to lay about 100 miles of the Lahore–Multan railway. This shows what happens to monuments that nobody protects.

  • Later Directors-General, John Marshall and Mortimer Wheeler (DG from 1944), made ASI a professional body that worked in the field.

  • Places: the sites are spread across India, for example Red Fort and Agra Fort (Mughal), Gandikota (Andhra Pradesh), Kalinjar (Uttar Pradesh), Ranthambore (Rajasthan) and Fort Aguada (Goa).

  • How we know (official records):
  • PIB releases on AAH 2.0 and on private participation in heritage
  • Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2331; PIB explainer of 18 April 2026
  • CAG Report No. 18 of 2013, Report No. 10 of 2022, and Report No. 36 of 2025
  • The 2023 report of the parliamentary standing committee on ASI, which said 50 monuments were untraceable or hit by urban growth

Don't confuse with

  • AMASR Act, 1958: a law that gives ASI its legal powers. Adopt a Heritage is a scheme. It gives partners no legal power over the monument.
  • ASI vs Monument Mitra: ASI conserves. The Monument Mitra only provides amenities (toilets, lights, benches, signboards).
  • Ministry of Tourism vs Ministry of Culture: the 2017 scheme was launched by Tourism. AAH 2.0 (2023) was launched by the Union Minister of Culture.
  • Repair vs restoration: repair makes something work again. Under the Venice Charter (1964), restoration must stop "where conjecture begins", which means it must stop once it turns into guesswork. Neither repair nor restoration is a partner's job under AAH.

Prelims Hooks

  • Adopt a Heritage was launched in 2017 by the Ministry of Tourism, with the Ministry of Culture and ASI.
  • AAH 2.0 was launched on 4 September 2023 by the Union Minister of Culture. 30 MoUs have been signed under it.
  • The private partners are called Monument Mitras. They may do only non-conservation work.
  • Trap (FALSE): "Monument Mitras can carry out conservation of protected monuments." Conservation is carried out or supervised by ASI experts.
  • Adopter–site pairs: Dalmia Bharat – Red Fort and Gandikota Fort; Ease My Trip Foundation – Agra Fort; Drishti Lifesaving – Upper Fort Aguada.
  • Count of centrally protected monuments: 3,688 in a Lok Sabha reply and 3,686 in the 2026 PIB summary. Always check the source.

Mains Points

  • Public–private split in heritage:
  • The scheme keeps expertise with the state and brings in private money for visitors.

  • But this safeguard is weak, because CAG found that ASI has no written conservation policy. A good answer could suggest tying each MoU to a written ASI plan for that site.

  • Continuity and change in heritage protection:

  • Cunningham's colonial-era ASI could not stop brick robbers at Harappa.
  • Today's challenges are untraceable monuments (92 per CAG), urban growth, and living monuments that have no policy.

  • AAH is one tool among several. It cannot replace a stronger ASI.

  • Ethics of "former glory":

  • A fort is often built in layers by many rulers. Restoring it to look brand new means choosing one period and erasing the others.
  • The Venice Charter (1964) rules out guesswork and does not aim at a single uniform style. The Nara Document (1994) widens the idea of authenticity (being genuine) to living traditions. Both matter when corporate visibility meets national heritage.

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