Union Budget 2025-26: What’s Next for India’s History, Heritage, and Language Preservation?

The Union Budget 2025-26 has introduced ambitious provisions to preserve and promote India’s history, heritage, languages, and literature. These initiatives reflect the government’s commitment to fostering a more inclusive and culturally aware nation. From digitising manuscripts to promoting regional languages in education, the provisions outlined are steps toward safeguarding India’s rich cultural wealth. However, while the goals are commendable, several challenges lie ahead that will determine their effectiveness.

• Gyan Bharatam Mission: A Comprehensive Approach to Manuscript Preservation

The Gyan Bharatam Mission is one of the most significant new initiatives in the budget. The mission is designed to survey, document, and digitally preserve India’s manuscript heritage. With the goal of covering over one crore manuscripts, this mission will involve collaboration with academic institutions, museums, libraries, and private collectors. Additionally, the establishment of a National Digital Repository of Indian Knowledge Systems will provide wider access to these digitized manuscripts.

While the digitization of manuscripts represents a forward-thinking approach to preservation, it faces several logistical challenges. The vast number of manuscripts, many in fragile conditions, requires significant resources for proper documentation and digitization. Furthermore, digital accessibility in rural areas could limit the reach of the project. Ensuring that these digital resources are accessible to all citizens, regardless of their location or digital literacy, will be a crucial factor in the mission’s success.

• Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme: Enhancing Education Accessibility in Indian Languages

The Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme aims to provide digital textbooks in Indian languages for school and higher education. This initiative is designed to promote education in regional languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, and others, making educational content accessible to a larger section of India’s population.

While the scheme holds promise for educational inclusivity, there are challenges related to digital literacy and infrastructure. Many rural areas still lack access to essential technological resources like smartphones, tablets, and reliable internet. For this initiative to be truly inclusive, substantial efforts will be needed to bridge the digital divide. Moreover, ensuring that the content is culturally relevant and high-quality for each language will be critical for its success.

• Heritage Tourism: Balancing Economic Growth and Cultural Preservation

The Union Budget also places significant emphasis on heritage tourism, with plans to develop 50 key tourist destinations that highlight historical, cultural, and spiritual significance. These developments aim to enhance local infrastructure, generate employment opportunities, and promote cultural awareness through Mudra loans for homestays and skill development in tourism-related services.

While heritage tourism can drive economic growth, over-commercialization poses risks to the preservation of cultural heritage. Overcrowding and lack of proper infrastructure can harm historical sites. Additionally, ensuring that local communities benefit from these tourism developments without being displaced by large commercial enterprises remains a major challenge. Sustainable tourism practices will need to be integrated to maintain the authenticity and integrity of these cultural sites.

• National Centres of Excellence for Skilling: Bridging Tradition with Modern Skills

The budget continues to support the National Centres of Excellence for Skilling, which offer training in both modern skills and traditional crafts. These centres aim to bridge the gap between contemporary industries and traditional heritage skills, ensuring that India’s artisans and craftsmen can continue their practices in a modern economic context.

The challenge lies in ensuring that traditional crafts are not standardised or oversimplified in the pursuit of modernising skills. Institutionalising traditional knowledge can sometimes reduce the cultural richness of crafts that are passed down through generations. Furthermore, aligning these skills with market demand and ensuring job sustainability for artisans will be key to the success of these centres.

• Support for Traditional Crafts and Arts: Empowering Local Artisans

The Union Budget 2025-26 continues to allocate resources to promote traditional crafts and arts through financial support, marketing initiatives, and facilitating exports of handicrafts. This initiative aims to ensure that traditional art forms remain vibrant, economically viable, and accessible on both domestic and international markets.

While the promotion of traditional crafts is a positive step, the market for handcrafted goods can be limited and seasonal. Artisans often struggle to compete with mass-produced alternatives that are sold at lower prices. Moreover, there is a risk that market trends could overshadow the value of the crafts. For these initiatives to succeed, there must be a focus on sustainability and creating equitable economic models that directly benefit artisans.

• Language Promotion and Digital Initiatives: Bridging the Language Divide

The government has emphasised digital language promotion through the Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme and Atal Tinkering Labs, which will foster digital literacy and creativity among students. These initiatives aim to provide educational content in Indian languages and integrate regional languages into modern education.

Despite the potential benefits, the digital divide and language content availability pose significant hurdles. Smaller languages may lack the resources for content creation, and quality control over digital educational material will be necessary to ensure that regional languages are represented accurately and meaningfully. Local language promotion requires a holistic approach to both technology infrastructure and content development to truly make an impact.

Balancing Ambition with Practical Execution

The Union Budget 2025-26 introduces bold plans for the preservation and promotion of India’s heritage, history, and language. Initiatives like the Gyan Bharatam Mission, Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme, and heritage tourism are designed to combine cultural preservation with economic growth and educational inclusivity. However, while the goals are ambitious, their success hinges on addressing significant implementation challenges such as digital literacy, infrastructure access, and market sustainability for traditional crafts.

The government’s vision to preserve India’s cultural heritage and promote regional languages will require ongoing attention to the realities on the ground. Effective collaboration, adequate funding, and the right technological solutions will be key to realising the potential of these initiatives. By addressing these challenges, the government can ensure that these efforts have a lasting impact, benefiting both future generations and India’s diverse cultural landscape.