Bihar now has 71 ASI-maintained sites; Govt updates Parliament

• The government informed Parliament that 71 monuments and archaeological sites in Bihar are maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
• Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat provided this update in a written reply to a query in the Lok Sabha.
• Previously, on December 8 last year, 70 sites were reported, with no mention of when the 71st site was added.
• Key sites include Nalanda University ruins, Rajgir remnants, Rohtasgarh Fort, Tomb of Sher Shah Suri, and Rajendra Prasad's ancestral house.
• Nationally, ASI protects 3,686 monuments; the National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA) has documented over 11,400 monuments and 1.2 million antiquities.