Missing Antiquities In India : ASI
According to an RTI, only 486 antiquities have been reported as missing (since Independence) from the 3,696 monuments protected and maintained by the ASI.
- According to ASI, 292 antiquities have been brought back to India from abroad since 2014 and 13 between 1976 and 2013.
- The ASI’s list of missing antiquities covers 17 states and two Union Territories.
- It includes 139 from Madhya Pradesh, 95 from Rajasthan and 86 from Uttar Pradesh.
- The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act of 1972, which came into effect on April 1, 1976, defines an “antiquity” as any object or work of art that has been in existence for at least 100 years.
- This includes coins, sculptures, paintings, epigraphs, detached articles, and other items that reflect science, art, literature, religion, customs, morals, or politics from a bygone era.
- For “manuscript, record or other document which is of scientific, historical, literary or aesthetic value”, this duration is “not less than 75 years.”
