Questions :

Will the Minister of CULTURE be pleased to state:-

• whether it is a fact that under the repatriation scheme Government is fixing any accountability, on moral grounds, on the foreign forces which oppressed India for a long period;

• if so, the details thereof;

• whether Government under the said scheme is contemplating on bringing back the valuable articles of ancient Indian heritage taken abroad;

• if so, the details thereof; and

• whether Government is also making any plan for bringing back the Kohinoor diamond from England?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION

(SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)

(a)&(b) No Sir, there is no such scheme.

(c) to (e) Government of India is committed to bring back the antiquities of Indian origin which were taken away from India. Whenever any such antiquity of Indian origin surfaces abroad, Archaeological Survey of India takes up the matter with the Indian Embassies, Missions abroad through MEA for their retrieval. Total numbers of 229 antiquities have been retrieved from foreign countries since 2014.