Santiniketan, the abode of peace of Rabindranath Tagore, has been recommended for inclusion in the Unesco World Heritage List by an international advisory body and is likely to get the tag formally in September, Union culture minister G. Kishan Reddy said on Wednesday.

“Santiniketan, West Bengal (Where Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore established his first school) has been recommended for inclusion in the World HeritageList by ICOMOS, the advisory body of the Unesco World Heritage Centre,” Reddy tweeted. In an earlier tweet, he had said it was “great news” for India on the birth anniversary of the Nobel laureate that fell on Tuesday.

According to Unesco’s official website, ICOMOS — the International Council on Monuments and Sites, a non-government organisation — provides the World Heritage Committee with evaluations of properties with cultural values that are proposed for inscription on the World Heritage List. The ICOMOS also conducts comparative studies, provides technical assistance and reports on the state of conservation of inscribed properties.

“This furthers the vision of PM Narendra Modi to showcase our rich cultural heritage to the world. This will formally be announced in the World Heritage Committee meeting to be held at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in September 2023,” Reddy tweeted.

Although Santiniketan is a university town sprawling across a large area that includes the entire Visva-Bharati campus, the places likely to get Unesco’s heritage tag are the core ashram area and the Uttararayan complex, a source in the varsity said.

The core ashram area includes Patha Bhavana (the first school set up by Tagore in 1901), Upasana Griha (prayer hall, locally known as the glass temple), Kala Bhavana (institute of fine arts), Sangit Bhavana (institute of music) and Santiniketan Griha (the first house bought by Tagore’s father Debendranath). The Uttarayan complex includes five houses of Tagore and a museum.

“We are really happy as the culture minister tweeted the good news of the inclusion of Santiniketan in Unesco’s world heritage list. However, we are yet to get the specific areas which would get the heritage tag,” said Visva-Bharati’s acting public relations officer Mahua Banerjee.

A section of students and teachers on the campus, however, said the central government should focus instead on the falling rank of Visva-Bharati.

“In various national rankings, Visva-Bharati’s position has been on a slide. We are happy with the announcement of the Union minister. But they should look for ways to improve the educational standards, for which a university flourishes,” said a former vice-chancellor.

A source said the effort to include Santiniketan in the Unesco list had been initiated in 2010, but several attempts had been unsuccessful because of failure to fulfil multiple conditions.

A fresh application was sent again last year as the Modi government has been desperately trying to get the tag before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The announcement by Reddy evoked praise from the Bengal BJP, pilloried often by the Trinamul Congress for its perceived disconnect with the state and its complex ethos.

“Grateful to Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi ji on behalf of the people of WB and followers of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore Ji. This shows PM Modi’s commitment to show West Bengal’s rich cultural heritage to the world,” BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar tweeted.

A source in the BJP said the party was concentrating on Bengal to “exponentially increase” its number of seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the leaders were keen to connect with Bengal’s culture.

Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday visited Bengal to pay tribute to Tagore on the occasion of his birth anniversary. During his visit to the state on the eve of the Bengali New Year, Shah had set an audacious target for the BJP to win 35 Lok Saha seats from Bengal, which has 42 constituencies.

Trinamul said the BJP could claim no credit in getting the World Heritage tag for a place like Santiniketan.

“Santiniketan has always been a heritage for us irrespective of any official announcement. The effort had started earlier and the BJP should not seek any credit for it. The credit goes to only Rabindranath Tagore, who built such an esteemed institution. They should ask the CBI to find the Nobel medallion of Tagore that was stolen from the heritage site,” Trinamul state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said.

The Nobel medallion and multiple memorabilia of Tagore were stolen from the Rabindra Bhavana museum in March 2004 and were never recovered, even after the investigation was handed over to the CBI.

A source said the CBI had closed the investigation of the Nobel heist case, citing the unavailability of further clues, with the option to reopen the case if there was any development.