Preserve-manuscript call at workshop for wider global reach

Bhubaneswar: Calling for greater efforts to preserve Odisha’s rich knowledge heritage, additional chief secretary Vishal Kumar Dev on Thursday urged participants of a manuscriptology workshop to actively engage in collection, cataloguing and transcription of manuscripts to ensure wider global dissemination.Speaking at the valedictory session of a 10-day workshop organised by the Odia Virtual Academy, Dev expressed confidence that the trainees would play a key role in future language enrichment initiatives and help revive traditional knowledge systems.The workshop witnessed participation of students, researchers, teachers and trainees across the state. Apart from classroom sessions, participants were taken on field visits to the Odisha State Museum for hands-on exposure to manuscript preservation practices.Odia Virtual Academy secretary Pradeep Kumar Raut termed the workshop a success and conferred the title of ‘manuscript ambassadors’ on participants, signalling the academy’s expectation of their continued engagement in safeguarding literary heritage.Eminent scholars, including former National Mission for Manuscripts director Prafulla Kumar Mishra and Shri Jagannath Sanskrit University vice-chancellor Prabhat Kumar Mahapatra, delivered lectures during the programme. A book on manuscriptology was also released on the occasion, while select participants shared their learning experiences at the concluding session.