Vadodara (Gujarat), September 20, 2012: The issue of providing access to around 6,500 manuscripts with Oriental Institute of M S University (MSU) to a Jain organization is likely to be debated at the university’s syndicate meeting on Friday. The organization wants to digitize the manuscripts.
The issue could not be decided at the syndicate’s meeting held last week. A meeting of officials of Oriental Institute and the top brass of MSU was called recently to discuss the issue, but the deadlock had continued with the institute averse to the idea of giving access to such a large number of manuscripts.
The officials from the institute have now come up with three opinions of experts, who have stated that it was not in the interest of the institute to give the manuscripts for digitization en-masse. Various issues have been raised by these experts regarding the move and these have been forwarded to MSU vice-chancellor.
Director of National Manuscript Mission Dipti Tripathi, director of School of Languages of Gujarat University professor Vasantkumar Bhatt and chancellor of Maharishi Panini Sanskrit and Vedic University Mithilaprasad Tripathi have given opinions regarding the issue.
The tug of war over the manuscripts began after Samast Jain Sangh wrote recently to MSU seeking the manuscripts. The institute has over 28,000 manuscripts collected since its establishment by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwd III. The organization has proposed to digitize 6,500 of these at the institute itself and keep a copy of the digital copies and hand over another to the university. Officials said that most of these manuscripts have been given to the institute by a Jain saint around the year 1960. – News Courtesy: Times of India