India is a living museum—where temples rise from deserts, palaces float on lakes, and every step in a city like Varanasi or Hampi is a step through time. But here’s the irony: we’ve inherited more history than we’ve learned to manage.

The challenge isn’t discovery; it’s preservation with purpose. Tourism needs infrastructure. Heritage needs care. And governments need capacity. That’s where “Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan” steps in—not as a handover of ownership, but as a hand-in-hand partnership model that gets the job done.

Let’s unpack how this initiative flips the script on heritage management and why it could be one of the most underrated tourism innovations of the past decade.

The Problem Statement: Great Monuments, Poor Experiences

Let’s be honest—India’s tourism experience has long been divided between inspiration and frustration. Yes, you’ll be mesmerized by the scale of Humayun’s Tomb or the architecture of Rani ki Vav—but it’ll often be followed by broken signboards, lack of basic amenities, or poorly lit pathways.

For decades, the responsibility of preserving over 3,600 protected monuments has rested largely on government bodies like the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). But the backlog of work—combined with budgetary and administrative constraints—meant one thing: conservation and visitor experience rarely scaled together.

India didn’t just need more caretakers. It needed innovative collaborators.

What is the "Adopt a Heritage" Scheme?

Launched in 2017, "Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan" is a visionary scheme by the Ministry of Tourism, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and ASI. It invites private players, public sector units, NGOs, and individuals to "adopt" a heritage site and develop, maintain, and enhance its visitor experience infrastructure.

Key idea: These entities—termed as Monument Mitras—don’t take ownership of the site. They step in as experience managers, enhancing the soft infrastructure without altering the core monument.

They invest, they innovate, and in return, they get visibility, branding rights, and the social capital of preserving national heritage.

What Can Monument Mitras Do?

This isn’t about just putting up a nameplate. The scope of work is strategic and wide-ranging:

  • Set up basic amenities like clean washrooms, drinking water, seating, and lighting

  • Install informative signage, braille scripts, and digital touchpoints

  • Develop app-based guides, audio tours, and VR/AR walkthroughs

  • Train on-ground staff in hospitality, cleanliness, and visitor support

  • Enable local artisan showcases, craft bazaars, and cultural performances

  • Establish feedback and emergency response systems for tourists

What’s brilliant here is the flexibility—each heritage site gets a customized development plan, based on visitor volume, historical significance, and local context.

A Few Success Stories (and What They Signal)

While many partnerships are still in early stages, some adoptions stand out:

Red Fort (Delhi)

Adopted by Dalmia Bharat Group, it was the first site to create public buzz. The group invested in signage upgrades, improved amenities, and launched a heritage app with AR-based experiences.

Qutub Minar (Delhi)

Adopted by Yatra.com, this saw the rollout of clean toilets, ticketing support, and crowd management tools—a tourism company bringing in real operational know-how.

Ajanta and Ellora Caves (Maharashtra)

Adopted by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, the focus was on sustainable tourism flow, local guide empowerment, and technology-driven visitor engagement.

Each case wasn’t just about CSR; it was a prototype of scalable, decentralized heritage management.

Why This Model Matters More Than We Think

On the surface, “Adopt a Heritage” sounds like a feel-good initiative. But dig deeper, and it becomes clear this is about rethinking governance itself.

1. Heritage as a Shared Responsibility

This scheme shifts the narrative from “government must do it” to “we all have a stake in it.” Corporates, startups, universities, and nonprofits are no longer bystanders. They're active contributors.

2. Tourism as Experience, Not Just Sightseeing

In the age of Instagram and immersive travel, monuments can’t just be visually stunning—they must be visitor-centric. That’s where these partnerships shine.

3. CSR Meets Cultural Capital

For Monument Mitras, this isn’t just philanthropy. It’s brand storytelling with a legacy twist. You’re not just another company—you’re the company that restored a stepwell or revived a fort trail.

4. Decentralized, Agile Management

Instead of one overburdened agency trying to do everything, this model allows parallel, customized execution across geographies. Faster decisions, local hiring, and outcome tracking.

What It Means for Stakeholders

This scheme opens up a different way of looking at tourism and culture—as an ecosystem built on collaborative value creation.

For Startups and Creators

Think beyond travel booking. There’s space for content platforms, audio guide builders, accessibility tech startups, and AR/VR storytellers to plug into these experiences.

For State Governments

Use this model to build heritage clusters and cultural circuits. Partner with local firms for each node in the journey—forts, temples, museums, riverfronts.

For Local Communities

When done right, these partnerships bring in jobs—guides, maintenance staff, performers, artisans. Local pride gets monetized sustainably.

For the Traveller

You get more than a photo op. You get curated stories, smoother facilities, multilingual help, and safer, cleaner sites. The experience improves without commercializing the sanctity of the space.

Challenges and Nuances

Of course, it’s not all perfect.

  • Some partnerships have faced criticism for slow execution or lack of sensitivity

  • Transparency in MoUs and monitoring outcomes remains a work in progress

  • There’s a thin line between enhancement and over-branding—some fear “adoption” may become a billboard opportunity

  • Not all sites are equally attractive to corporates—Tier 2 and 3 heritage spots risk being ignored

But the response to these challenges isn’t to abandon the model—it’s to evolve it with stronger frameworks, local co-ownership, and multi-stakeholder input.

The Road Ahead: Scaling with Purpose

If scaled well, “Adopt a Heritage” could be the foundation of a self-sustaining, tourism-powered conservation economy.

Here’s what needs to happen next:

  • Tiered Incentive Models: Offer CSR tax incentives, visibility packages, or cross-sector rewards for companies adopting lesser-known sites

  • Digital Integration: Build a unified platform that maps every adopted site, work done, progress tracked, and visitor reviews—crowdsourced accountability

  • Public Awareness: Include these partner sites in government tourism campaigns, creating a feedback loop of visibility and footfall

  • Youth & Volunteer Involvement: Open up volunteering opportunities for students and locals—photography, documentation, site maintenance, storytelling

India doesn’t just need a few flagship adoptions—it needs hundreds of micro-transformations to reimagine our cultural infrastructure.

Final Thoughts

“Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan” isn’t about handing over control—it’s about taking collective ownership. It signals a shift in how we protect the past while preparing for the future.

Because preserving a monument isn’t about stones and carvings. It’s about identity. Memory. Continuity. And the courage to say: our history deserves more than bureaucracy—it deserves love, effort, and imagination.

If tourism is India’s soft power, then this scheme is its anchor. Because when a nation takes pride in its heritage, the world stops to take notice.

Read about Tourist Police Scheme - here

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