NEW DELHI: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that ‘Gyan Bharatam Mission’ is set to become a “proclamation of India’s culture, literature, and consciousness”, the international conference on manuscripts here adopted the “Delhi Declaration” that resolves to “guard and preserve the priceless manuscript heritage” of India and “acquire and repatriate original manuscripts or secure their digital copies from abroad, ensuring access for research and national pride”.“We firmly believe that manuscripts are not merely relics of the past, they are guiding lights for the future,” the declaration that was adopted at the end of the three-day conference states. “We resolve to join the movement of ‘Gyan Bharatam’, to preserve, digitise and disseminate this vast treasure, making it accessible to the citizens and scholars alike, across the world,” it further says.Resolving to make India the foremost hub of manuscripts showcasing the world’s most diverse written knowledge tradition, the declaration, among other things, calls for turning ‘Gyan Bharatam’ into a ‘jan aandolan’ that strengthens cultural identity and knowledge-based growth.‘Gyan Bharatam’ being steered by the ministry of culture aims to create a national repository through survey, documentation, conservation and digitisation of the more than one crore manuscripts dispersed across India, build an “alliance of all custodians” of manuscripts in India and create a countrywide framework for conservation, preservation and dissemination of knowledge.“Our objective is clear – to preserve, publish, and make manuscripts accessible through modern technology and social media in a way that enables every Indian to take pride in this intellectual heritage of their ancestors. Until this knowledge leads to practical utility for ordinary people, the movement will remain incomplete,” culture minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said.While the declaration lays down the broad vision for the roadmap based on the deliberations and recommendations of the eight working groups set up to study various facets – such as conservation, preservation, decoding, digitisation and dissemination of knowledge in the manuscripts, and the deciphering of scripts like the Indus script — the culture ministry will be putting in place an action plan which paves the way for a policy framework.When asked about the action plan, Shekhawat responded with optimism and told TOI that work will be taken up expeditiously on various aspects pertaining to manuscripts.The eight working groups made presentations before the PM at the conference on Friday, and their recommendations will be woven into the action plan, a senior official said.At the conference held under the overarching theme ‘Reclaiming India’s Knowledge Legacy through Manuscript Heritage’, the declaration was adopted by participants that included manuscript custodians, academicians, scholars, conservators, archaeologists, and other experts, including those from the fields of digitisation and technology and archival institutions.