New Delhi, March 5: India may lend priceless antiquities to foreign scholars for the first time under a controversial proposal to amend a 35-year-old law that protects national treasures.

No other country in the world has a similar mechanism of guaranteed and unlimited access to its antiquities, according to critics of the proposal that was revealed today in a document tabled in Parliament.

The culture ministry said loans of antiquities from museums or excavated sites to “educational, research institutes and academic bodies” would be allowed for the benefit of scholars and academicians.

The ministry hopes to add this provision in the amendment to the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972. A cabinet note and the draft amendment are being finalised in consultation with the law ministry.

“It is an unwise decision,” said A.G.K. Menon, the Delhi chapter convener of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach). “Even if the government has taken adequate steps to protect the objects, which I am sure they would have, why can’t scholars come to India instead of the object going there?”

Others pointed out that Indian scholars hoping to get their hands on archaeological material abroad would be at a disadvantage as no other country has such a generous provision to promote cultural exchange.

The critics also said the culture establishment was hardly in a position to monitor the status of antiques loaned outside. “The National Museum, till a few years ago, didn’t have a complete inventory of all its objects. In such a case, how can we send out material to other countries,” said a scholar who has served on various panels of the ministry.

The Archaeological Survey of India — faced with a huge manpower crunch — struggles to protect excavation sites. Smuggling from archaeological digs or even small museums often goes unnoticed.

The proposal to allow foreign scholars to borrow fragments of India’s history has created divisions within the ministry itself. “Once we start the process, how will we be able to stop what is going out?” asked an official.