Shri Vivek Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Culture inaugurated the Induction Training Programme for newly recruited Senior Conservation Assistants and Conservation Assistants at the Institute of Archaeology, Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya Campus, Greater Noida today. This is a one-month intensive training program for 53 newly recruited Senior Conservation Assistants (Sr. CA) and Conservation Assistants (CA) from various ASI Circles across the country. The revamped curriculum fuses core archaeological practices with administrative decision-making, training officers in Government Financial Rules (GFR), administrative law, establishment procedures, manpower-management, and departmental inquiries.

While addressing the trainees, the Secretary articulated a strategic shift to transform the Institute into an International Centre of Excellence. He stressed the need for harnessing India's protected monuments as economic catalysts. Highlighting the "Monument Economy," the Secretary underscored that cultural heritage directly generates employment and contributes to national GDP by stimulating tourism, local transport, hospitality, artisan markets, light-and-sound shows, and curated heritage walks etc., directly or through public-private partnerships (PPPs).

The Secretary exhorted the officers to embrace decisive leadership. He stressed that institutional resources are no barrier for initiatives taken up in right earnest. He further outlined the ethos of prioritizing national interest (Desh Hit) first, institutional duty (Sanstha Hit) second, and society and family (Samaj aur Parivar) third.

Director General, ASI, Shri Yadubir Singh Rawat reiterated the governing conservation philosophy of "Minimum intervention and Maximum retention". He also announced that this module will soon be followed by refresher courses for in-service ASI personnel and state archaeology department officials.

The initiative marks a significant milestone in a rejuvenation drive to fully utilize the Institute of Archaeology’s state-of-the-art, 25-acre campus. Transitioning beyond its traditional 15-student Post Graduate Diploma in Archaeology (PGDA) cohort, the Institute is now being repositioned as a premier Archaeological training Institution, which at its maturity would be, comparable to the best training institutions in the world. The campus will also be developed as a hub for cultural activities in the area and for educating young students about the life and work of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya.

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M Annadurai

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