Madhab Dev University signs MoU with Digitising Assam to preserve rare manuscripts

Madhab Dev University on December 15, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Digitising Assam project to collaborate on the digitisation of rare books, literary works, journals and manuscripts preserved in and around the university’s vicinity.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Vice-Chancellor Arup Jyoti Chaudhury by Registrar Khiropodo Dutta and Mrinal Talukdar, Secretary of the Nanda Talukdar Foundation, which is spearheading the Digitising Assam initiative.

Under the agreement, the university will identify and facilitate the digitisation of rare documents, old journals and manuscripts housed in academic institutions, private collections and community spaces in the surrounding areas.

Following the signing, Vice-Chancellor Chaudhury, Talukdar and a team of university professors visited a nearby Khamti village, where several manuscripts are preserved inside a Buddhist temple. The visit marked the first on-ground step towards initiating digitisation work under the collaboration.

Expressing satisfaction over the partnership, Chaudhury said the initiative would begin from historically significant locations and hoped the collaboration would strengthen efforts to preserve Assam’s diverse literary and cultural heritage through the use of modern technology.

Digitising Assam is a long-term cultural preservation movement led by the Nanda Talukdar Foundation as a community-driven project. It aims to digitise rare Assamese books, journals, manuscripts and xasipaats and make them searchable and accessible for future generations, while creating a comprehensive knowledge repository for researchers, students and the wider public.