(a) whether the Government has any method or guidelines to assess the genuineness of precious artefacts stored in museums across the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
(c) the steps taken by the Government to have uniform guidelines to preserve and secure the artefacts in museums?
MINISTER OF STATE (IC) CULTURE & TOURISM
(DR. MAHESH SHARMA)
(a) There is no specific guidelines for verifying the genuineness of objects/ artefacts. However, for assessing genuineness, there are 2 types of detection methods viz. relative and absolute. Generally, Curators/Historians use a combination of the two.
(b) Relative method is identification on the basis of styles, textures, pigments material, period, chiseling, cutting, legends written on the objects, writings on the objects etc. In the absolute detection method, it is through carbon dating, potassium argon dating, emission technique, N.M.R. techniques, X-ray technique, absorption spectroscopy, Ring Owen techniques are the methods employed for ensuring the identity/genuineness of the artifacts housed in the Museums.
(c) The Govt. has issued instructions to preserve the artefacts in museums by introducing atmospheric control of heat/cold, humidity, dust, etc in galleries, modernizing lighting with heat control, setting up or upgrading conservation laboratories and modeling workshops, circulating, periodically displayed materials, accessioning, physical verification, photo-documentation and digitization of objects etc. Government of India, for ensuring safety and security of Museums and its artefacts, has formulated a comprehensive Security Policy for all Museums under its control.