In the last decade or so, successive Governments in Tamil Nadu have done their bit for protecting public heritage. And by this we mean heritage of more recent provenance, the kind that was dismissed as colonial till then, and therefore robbed of basic maintenance and condemned to demolition. But, of late, there has been a change of heart. Heritage buildings in the hands of the government, and even those that are in the hands of government undertakings, seemed to be seeing a better future. On the other hand, it is heritage that is in private hands that seems hugely threatened. The absence of any law to protect these has resulted in much loss and the government would do well to ponder over what it can do to salvage the situation.
Consider the facts. Many government and other public buildings that would come under heritage lists are now being protected. Modernisation, when taking place in public buildings, is making sure that heritage is left untouched or is being made use of as part of the new planning. Purists may not agree with the restoration and also the wholesale decision to convert most old buildings into museums but it cannot be denied that the structures themselves are surviving for the sake of posterity.
On the other hand, you need to just look at what has happened to private heritage buildings. Madras that is Chennai had several beautiful bungalows that could have well been preserved had there been a law that rewarded owners for continuing to retain heritage. In the absence of such regulation and due to complete lack of awareness in many cases, heritage buildings have bitten the dust. The next aspect of private heritage that needs looking into are artifacts: paintings, sculpture, books, maps, manuscripts, and various articles of everyday use.
A few years ago, when racketeering of a higher order in antiques was exposed, the police and the government went to town on how there were laws that required people to register antiques in their possession so that they could not be surreptitiously traded in. After that there has been complete silence and what is more, the government infrastructure itself is woefully inadequate if every owner of an item of historic interest were to come forward to have it registered. Informed sources have it that there is only one person who is allotted the task of approving what can be considered a genuine antique, and you can imagine the backlog. There is no system in place beyond good intentions.
When modern technology has made it possible for nations to have porous borders, it is very likely that heritage will soon find its way out of this state and the country. The state government would do well to begin preparing itself on how to protect private heritage. The steps required are manifold. Firstly, there must be a mechanism of evaluation of what is of heritage value and what is not. Secondly, there must be a system of acquisition by the government if it feels that an item ought to be nationalised. Valuation then must be correct, not to the detriment of the owner. Thirdly, if the government feels that the item can be traded then it should be forthcoming with certification so that the owners of private heritage are not harassed for no fault of their own. After all, a lot of heritage in private hands is inherited. Lastly, heritage by way of property and real estate needs to get a fair deal especially when owners are willing to continue protecting it.