Parliament Question: Indian Culture Portal Version 2.0

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.3481 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.08.2026 INDIAN CULTURE PORTAL VERSION 2.0

3481. SHRI HARIBHAI PATEL:

SHRI MUKESHKUMAR CHANDRAKAANT DALAL:

SMT. SMITA UDAY WAGH:

SHRI MANOJ TIWARI:

SHRI LUMBARAM CHOUDHARY:

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

SMT. KAMLESH JANGDE:

SHRI TATKARE SUNIL DATTATREY:

SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB:

SHRI P P CHAUDHARY:

SHRI DILIP SAIKIA:

SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMBHAJIRAO MANE:

SHRI SHASHANK MANI:

SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

SHRI NABA CHARAN MAJHI:

SHRI SATISH KUMAR GAUTAM:

SHRI DINESHBHAI MAKWANA:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

DR. NISHIKANT DUBEY:

SHRI AVIMANYU SETHI:

SHRI ANIL FIROJIYA:

SHRI RAHUL SINGH LODHI:

DR. RAJESH MISHRA:

SHRI CHAVAN RAVINDRA VASANTRAO:

Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to state: a) whether the Government has undertaken any measures to strengthen digital access to India’s cultural heritage through the review of implementation of upgraded Indian Culture Portal i.e. Indian Culture Portal Version 2.0, if so, the details thereof;

b) the details of initiatives undertaken to improve accessibility, multilingual availability, user and public interface and engagement, digital content through advanced digital technologies on the said portal;c) whether any mechanism has been established to facilitate integration of museums, libraries, archives, monuments and other cultural institutions with the portal for expanding digital cultural resources and creating a unified digital cultural repository, if so, the details thereof;

d) the details along with the manner by which the upgraded portal is expected to promote wider public access, research, education, virtual exhibitions and preservation of India’s cultural heritage; and e) the details of institutions integrated with the said Portal, State/UT-wise, particularly in Sidhi Lok Sabha Constituency and Maharashtra, including Jalgaon Lok Sabha Constituency? ANSWER MINISTER OF CULTURE AND TOURISM (SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT) a) Significant measures have been undertaken to strengthen digital access to India's cultural heritage through the upgraded Indian Culture Portal (ICP) Version 2.0, which was launched in March 2026. The upgraded portal has been developed with a modern, scalable, and secure architecture to provide seamless access to India's cultural resources. Key improvements include enhanced search capabilities, multilingual support, improved user interface and user experience, Progressive Web Application

(PWA) functionality, AI-enabled chat bot, and integration with cultural institutions of Ministry of Culture. b) The initiatives undertaken to improve accessibility, multilingual availability, user interface, public engagement and digital content on the Portal include:

1. Introduction of a modern and responsive user interface with improved navigation and accessibility.

2. Availability of content in 22 Indian languages through integration with the BHASHINI platform.

3. Deployment of an AI-powered chat bot, Bharti, enabling intelligent search, content discovery and multilingual interaction.

4. Advanced search and filtering features for efficient retrieval of cultural resources.

5. Development of the Portal as a Progressive Web Application (PWA) to enable access across desktops, tablets and mobile devices.

6. Adoption of a decoupled architecture using React and Drupal 10 for improved performance, scalability and security.

7. Addition of new thematic sections and curated cultural collections to enhance public engagement. c) The Indian Culture Portal has established mechanisms for integration of cultural institutions through standard metadata exchange, APIs, and institutional onboarding.The Portal serves as a unified discovery platform by aggregating digital resources from museums, libraries, archives, monuments and other cultural institutions under the Ministry of Culture and partner organizations.

d) The upgraded Portal aims to promote wider public access and preservation of India's

cultural heritage by:

1. Providing a single digital platform for access to cultural resources from multiple institutions.

2. Facilitating research through advanced search, metadata-based discovery and access to digitised collections.

3. Supporting students, researchers, educators and the general public through authenticated cultural information.

4. Enabling virtual exploration of museums, monuments, manuscripts, artworks and heritage collections.

5. Promoting awareness of India's tangible and intangible cultural heritage through curated thematic content.

6. Strengthening long-term digital preservation and accessibility of cultural resources.

7. Encouraging wider public participation through multilingual access and improved digital engagement.

8. Website accessible throughout the globe and responsive in all screen sizes (Desktop, laptop, tablet, mobile phone) e) A State/UT-wise list of Institutions integrated with Indian Culture Portal is at Annexure-A.Annexure-A Annexure referred to in reply to part (e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.3481 for reply on 10th August, 2026 regarding “Indian Culture Portal Version 2.0”.

State / UT Institutions Arunachal Pradesh Central Institute of Himalayan Culture Studies Bihar Bihar State Archives; Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library Delhi (NCT) Central Secretariat Library; Centre for Cultural Resources and Training;

Delhi Public Library; Delhi State Archives; Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti; Harijan Sevak Sangh; Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts;

Lalit Kala Akademi; National Archives of India; National Gallery of Modern Art; National Institute of Defence Estates Management; National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities; National Museum; National Museum Institute of the History of Art, Conservation and Museology; Prime Ministers Museum & Library; Sahitya Akademi; Sangeet Natak Akademi; Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Gujarat Government of Gujarat Karnataka Government of Karnataka; National Gallery of Modern Art Kerala Government of Kerala Madhya Pradesh Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya Maharashtra Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya; Maharashtra State Archives; Mani Bhavan; South Central Zone Cultural Centre Mizoram Mizoram State Library Odisha Government of Odisha Punjab North Zone Cultural Centre Rajasthan Planning (Manpower) Department, Rajasthan Government; West Zone Cultural Centre Sikkim Sikkim State Archives Tamil Nadu Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha; Maratha Palace; South Zone Cultural Centre Telangana Salar Jung Museum Uttar Pradesh Allahabad Museum; Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies; North Central Zone Cultural Centre; Rampur Raza Library; Vrindavan Research Institute Uttarakhand Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd.

West Bengal Anthropological Survey of India; Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre;

Government of Bengal; Indian Museum; National Council of Science Museums; National Library of India; The Asiatic Society; Victoria Memorial Hall *****