National Archives of India (NAI)

In News

• The National Archives of India (NAI) does not have records of 1962, 1965, and 1971 wars, or even of the Green Revolution.

National Archives of India (NAI) 

• About:
  • Originally established as the Imperial Record Department in 1891 in Calcutta, the capital of British India.
  • The NAI is the repository of all non-current government records, holding them for the use of administrators and scholars. 
  • The NAI is now located in Delhi. 
• Functions under: the Ministry of Culture.
• Its Role & Significance:
  • It keeps and conserves records of the government and its organisations only.
  • It does not receive classified documents.
  • As per the Public Records Act, 1993, various central ministries and departments are supposed to transfer records more than 25 years old to the NAI, unless they pertain to classified information. 
  • However, it is up to the respective ministries and departments to ascertain what is classified information.
• Abhilekh Patal portal:
  • NAI has also made efforts to make available all the records digitally — on the newly created portal. 
  • However, five years later, it’s a work in progress and the entire holdings haven’t been digitised so far, with 1,27,136 records available for online access.
• Concerns:
  • There are in all 151 ministries and departments, and the NAI has only records of 64 agencies, including 36 ministries and departments. 
  • Several Union ministries and departments have not shared their records with NAI. The country is losing its history.
  • Various ministries and administrations come up with their own definitions of what is classified and what is non-current. 
  • Opacity and lack of accessibility are just a few of the issues regularly faced by researchers at the archives. 

Source: IE