UT monuments not of national, state importance: Centre

No building or structure in Chandigarh has been designated as monument of national or state importance, said Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in response to a question posed by Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari in the Lok Sabha today.

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Shekhawat said: “No monument in Chandigarh has been designated as monument of national importance under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, or of state importance under the Punjab Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1964.”

He, however, said the Chandigarh Capital Complex was inscribed as a Transnational World Heritage Property under the title “The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement”. Such properties are located in seven countries — Argentina, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Japan and India.

Tewari had asked whether any structure in Chandigarh had been designated as monuments of national importance under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, given that the city is not designated as a heritage city.

Tewari questioned: “Have the Government and the UT Administration been peddling a false narrative of Chandigarh’s heritagism that is backed by neither law nor facts?”

Earlier, to a question raised by Tewari, the minister had informed the Lok Sabha that the Union Territory of Chandigarh had not been designated as a World Heritage City.

On the criteria for selecting a heritage city by UNESCO, the minister had stated that as per the UNESCO Operational Guidelines-2024, any World Heritage property, including a World Heritage City, must fulfil one or more of the six criteria outlined by it.

These include the city concerned should represent a masterpiece of human creative genius, exhibit an important interchange of human values over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design. Also, it should bear a unique or, at least, exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilisation, which is living or which has disappeared. The city should be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape, which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.

Moreover, the city aiming for a heritage status should be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use, which is representative of a culture (or cultures) or human interaction with the environment, especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change, said the minister. Lastly, it should be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance, he added.