New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) About 2.25 crore sheets of records at the National Archives of India (NAI) have been estimated to be “highly brittle” and necessary action for repair and rehabilitation of these documents is being done through an outsourced agency in a “mission mode”, the government informed Parliament on Monday.
The total number of collections of records in the custody of the NAI is “34 crore pages (approximately)”, consisting of records of various ministries, departments as well as collections of private and oriental records, Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said in a written reply to a query in the Lok Sabha.
The NAI is the custodian of the records of enduring value of the government of India. Established on March 11, 1891 in Calcutta (now Kolkata) as the Imperial Record Department, it is one of the biggest archival repositories in South Asia.
Shekhawat was asked about the details of number of records, which have been damaged, restored, digitised and yet to be digitised.
The minister replied, “2.25 crore (approximately) sheets of records have been estimated to be highly brittle records and necessary action for repair and rehabilitation of these records is being done through an outsourced agency in a mission mode.” The NAI has vast corpus of public records, which include files, volumes, maps, bills assented by the President, treaties, rare manuscripts oriental records, private papers, cartographic records, important collection of gazettes and gazetteers, census records, assembly and Parliament debates, proscribed literature, travel accounts, etc. “As on date, the NAI has digitised approximately 5,50,58,949 pages of the records and 28,49,41,031 pages of records are yet to be digitised,” he said.
All the requisite conservation procedures, which are followed around the world like preventive, curative and restorative conservation are being carried out for the repair and rehabilitation of the archival records under the custody of the NAI, he added.
The minister further informed that in the ‘School of Archival Studies’ of the NAI, training is imparted to candidates for the repair and rehabilitation of records under one-year diploma course in archives and records management.
“Short-term course on ‘servicing of records and conservation of books, manuscripts and archives’ is also conducted by the NAI. In addition to the above, the National Archives of India in collaboration with Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has provided training on conservation and preservation of records to 900 candidates,” he added.
In repose to a separate query, the Union minister shared details about the excavation conducted at various sites in Gujarat.
“During the last five years, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has conducted excavation on the following sites in Gujarat — Taranga, District Mehsana (2017-18 and 2018-19), Gunja, District Mehsana (2018-19), Vadnagar, District Mehsana (2019-20 to 2021-22) Vihar, District Gandhi Nagar (2021-22) Sarval, District Patan (2022-23 and 2023-24). An exploration has also been conducted at Sanjan, District-Valsad,” he said in his response.
The funds allotted for the archaeological excavation stood as — 11.30 cr (2023-24) and 10.00 cr (2022-23).
In response to another query, the minister shared details about the Cultural Exchange Programmes (CEPs).
The Ministry of Culture signs Cultural Exchange Programmes (CEPs) for disseminating Indian art and culture across the globe. The Cultural Exchange Programmes “promote India’s soft power” for developing and strengthening India’s inter-cultural relations with other countries, he said.
“The CEPs facilitate cultural exchanges with the other countries in different areas like music and dance, theatre, museums & science museums, libraries, archives, protection and conservation of historic monuments and archaeological sites, literature, research & documentation, festival, among others,” the minister said.
“As on date, the Ministry of Culture has CEPs under negotiation with 144 countries. There are valid signed CEPs with 84 countries,” he added. PTI KND AS AS
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