 Branch of Government of India | |
 Ministry of Culture | |
 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Government of India |
| Headquarters | C-wing Shastri Bhawan New Delhi |
| Annual budget | ₹3,399.65 crore (US$400 million)(2023-24 est.)[1] |
| Ministers responsible |
|
| Website | www |
TheMinistry of Culture is theIndian governmentministry charged with preservation and promotion ofart andculture of India.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is the current Minister of Culture. Recently the government has established theNational Mission on Libraries India under this ministry.[2]
The body now known as the Ministry of Culture was originally established as the Department of Culture in 1971.
For its first 14 years, it was administered as a department under the Ministry of Education and Social Welfare (later theMinistry of Education and Culture).
In 1985, as part of a government-wide administrative re-organisation, the Department of Culture was moved and placed under the newly createdMinistry of Human Resource Development (HRD).
This arrangement continued until 1999, when the department was separated from the HRD Ministry and briefly merged with another portfolio to form theMinistry of Tourism and Culture.
This combined ministry was bifurcated on 27 May 2006, leading to the creation of a standalone, cabinet-level Ministry of Culture and a separateMinistry of Tourism. Since 2006, the Ministry of Culture has functioned as an independent ministry within theGovernment of India.
The restoration of ancient idols smuggled out of India comes under the Ministry of Culture.
As of 1 October 2021, the Government of India has recovered 211 idols.[3]Till 2014 only 13 idols were recovered. 198 idols have been restored since 2014.
In June 2022, more than 10 idols were recovered and handed over to the Tamil Nadu Idol Rescue Unit. 228 idols have been recovered till 2022.[4]
| Year | Total No of Artifacts |
|---|---|
| 1976 | 1 |
| 1979 | 1 |
| 1986 | 3 |
| 1990 | 1 |
| 1991 | 2 |
| 1999 | 2 |
| 2000 | 1 |
| 2001 | 1 |
| 2013 | 1 |
| 2014 | 2 |
| 2015 | 3 |
| 2016 | 14 |
| 2017 | 9 |
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2019 | 2 |
| 2020 | 8 |
| 2021 | 158 |
| 2022 | 30 |
| Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Prime Minister | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Period | ||||||
.jpg) | Ananth Kumar (1959–2018) MP forBangalore South | 13 October 1999 | 1 September 2001 | 1 year, 323 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Vajpayee III | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | |
 | Maneka Gandhi (born 1956) MP forPilibhit (MoS, I/C) | 1 September 2001 | 18 November 2001 | 78 days | ||||
 | Jagmohan (1927–2021) MP forNew Delhi | 18 November 2001 | 22 May 2004 | 2 years, 186 days | ||||
 | Jaipal Reddy (1942–2018) MP forMiryalguda | 23 May 2004 | 29 January 2006 | 1 year, 251 days | Indian National Congress | Manmohan I | Manmohan Singh | |
 | Ambika Soni (born 1942) MP forPunjab (Rajya Sabha) | 29 January 2006 | 22 May 2009 | 3 years, 113 days | ||||
 | Manmohan Singh (1932–2024) MP forAssam (Rajya Sabha) (Prime Minister) | 22 May 2009 | 19 January 2011 | 1 year, 242 days | Manmohan II | |||
 | Selja Kumari (born 1962) MP forAmbala | 19 January 2011 | 28 October 2012 | 1 year, 283 days | ||||
.jpg) | Chandresh Kumari Katoch (born 1944) MP forJodhpur | 28 October 2012 | 26 May 2014 | 1 year, 210 days | ||||
 | Shripad Naik (born 1952) MP forNorth Goa (MoS, I/C) | 26 May 2014 | 9 November 2014 | 167 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi I | Narendra Modi | |
 | Mahesh Sharma (born 1959) MP forGautam Buddh Nagar (MoS, I/C) | 9 November 2014 | 30 May 2019 | 4 years, 202 days | ||||
 | Prahlad Singh Patel (born 1960) MP forDamoh (MoS, I/C) | 31 May 2019 | 7 July 2021 | 2 years, 37 days | Modi II | |||
 | G. Kishan Reddy (born 1964) MP forSecunderabad | 7 July 2021 | 11 June 2024 | 4 years, 142 days | ||||
.jpg) | Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (born 1967) MP forJodhpur | 11 June 2024 | Incumbent | 1 year, 168 days | Modi III | |||
| Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Prime Minister | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Period | ||||||
.jpg) | Kanti Singh (born 1957) MP forArrah | 6 April 2008 | 22 May 2009 | 1 year, 46 days | Rashtriya Janata Dal | Manmohan I | Manmohan Singh | |
.jpg) | Arjun Ram Meghwal (born 1953) MP forBikaner | 7 July 2021 | 11 June 2024 | 2 years, 340 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi II | Narendra Modi | |
.jpg) | Meenakshi Lekhi (born 1967) MP forNew Delhi | |||||||
_for_Planning_in_May_2014_(cropped).jpg) | Rao Inderjit Singh (born 1951) MP forGurgaon | 11 June 2024 | Incumbent | 1 year, 168 days | Modi III | |||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
