CHAPTER IV ARCHIVES
National Archives of India is the biggest repository of
Government records and other archival material in the country. The notable event during the period was the celebration of `Archives-week' held on 7-13 August, 1978. In this connection to familiarize the public with the Archives, the Department organised an exhibition entitled "Our Heritage" based on old public records and private papers. It also invited "Open House" visits, where visitors were allowed to see the record rooms and techniques employed in the preservation and rehabilitation of old fragile papers. About 3000 persons, and about 2000 school and college students visited the National Archives of India during this week.
Another interesting event of the period was the preparation of an album of 24 important documents in Persian available in the National Archives of India-both illuminated and in black and white-covering the period from Humayun's times to the close of the 19th Century. The said album bearing the theme Persian in Indian Administration' was presented to the Foreign Minister of Iran on. 3rd February, 1978 during the visit of their Majesties of Iran to India.
Under its expansion Programme the National Archives of India would assume the administrative control over the Pondicherry Archives on January 1, 1979.
Accessions During the period April-November '78 the Department acquired 4342 files of the Legislatives Department (1870-1944) from the Ministry of Law and Justice; 7 Indices (1966-67) 5 files of the Ministry of States (Political Branch-1948-40) and 28 files of the, judicial branch from the Ministry of Home Affairs, 19 files of the standing Finance Committee (1950-53) and 48 files of Department of Expenditure (1923--57) from the Ministry of
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Finance. Besides III authenticated Bills passed by the various State legislatures and assented to by the President of India were also received.
During the remaining period under report, about 100 files are likely to be recieved from various Ministries/Departments of the Government of India.
As regards Private papers, the Department received from Shri M. K. Ghosh, of the Indian National Trade Union Congress, New Delhi, 3 files containing the papers relating to the labour movement in Tatanagar. The Department also received as gift the following items. A Persian book entitled Dastan-i-Turhtazan-i-Hind (in five volumes) from Dr. H. R. Zaidi of Hyderabad; a diary "Lhasa at Last 1903-4" by Evan Trigh Crosleigh from the Defence Library ; 7 files, one report and some pamphlets belonging to the late scientist Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar dealing with the scientific activities, in, India during 1940-54.
Besides, on the recommendations of the Historical Documents Purchase Committee the following items were acquired on payment ; 91 documents in Persian in the form of Parwanas, Iqrarnammas, Tamassuks etc; an original farman of the reign of Shah Alam II (15th January, 1978 regarding altamgha grant ; and seven old rare English books namely : (i) The Christian conquest of India by James M. Thoburn, (ii) Glory and Bondage by Edgar Snow (iii) Reminiscences by Kalpana Dutt (iv) A glimpse into a Maharaja's Life by M. K. Karnik, (v) A Standard Hindustani Grammar by M. A. Khan Haidari (iv) Expansion of England by Sir J. R. Seeley and (vii) Indian Travel Diary of a Philosopher by Count Hermann.
In addition, microfilm copies of records of Indian interest were acquired from abroad & these included 51 rolls of Factory Records from India Office Library and Records, London, one Microfilm roll from the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, 5 microfilm rolls from Hungary; 3 microfilm rolls from Australia and 4 microfilm rolls of Indian National Committee. Sweden.
Library About 6736 Journals, Periodicals, Gazetteers, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Debates were received and it is proposed to purchase more books/periodicals etc. during the remaining period.
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Record Management During the period the Department appraised 43,791 files belonging to the following series of records : Ministry of Defence (Military Department, 1890-91), Public Works Department (1869-1923), Railway Department (1908-52), Malwa Political Agency (1875-1947), Bhopal Political Agency (1875-1947), Orissa States Agency (1904--47), Central India Agency (1872-1943), Bundelkhand Agency (1827-1947), Chhatisgarh States Agency (1901--47), Eastern States Agency (1933-47), Kalhiawar Political Agency (1873-1944, 1908--42), Gwalior Residency (1922-47), Mysore Residency (1940-47), Madras Residency (1875-1925), Baroda Residency (1914--48), and National Archives of India/Imperial Record Department. Out of these 13,751 files were recommended for permanent retention.
As a result of the implementation of the Archival Policy Re- solution issued by the Government of India, the fourth Report of the Director of Archives (1976-77) was printed and distributed among the Ministries/Departments, Offices. Besides, the fifth report of the Director of Archives (1977-78) on the subject was sent for printing which is likely to be out of the press shortly. Further, a circular letter seeking information from the Ministries/ Departments for the Sixth Report of the Director of Archives (1978-79) would also be issued by the end of the financial year.
To put Record Management programme on proper lines, the Department examined Retention Schedules for records, prepared by the following agencies : Ministry of Shipping and Transport, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Prime Minister's Office, Department of Supply, Office of the Land and Development (Ministry of Works and Housing), National Museum, Department of Agriculture, Department of Food, Department of Company Affairs, Department of Electronics. and Ganga Basin Water Resources Organisation.
The Assistant Directors of Archives (Record Management) and other officers of the Record Management Division visited the Ministries of External Affairs and Home Affairs, Bihar State Archives, Department of Education, Pondicherry, College of the Military Engineering, Poona, Collectorate of Custom, Bombay, Textile Commissioner, Bombay, Gujarat State High Court, Ahmedabad, Controller of Insurance, Simla and advised them on their record management programme.
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During the remaining period it is expected that the scrutiny of the Retention schedules for records of five Ministries/Departments will be completed and appraisal of about 8,000 volumes of Kathiawar Political Agency, 11,500 files of Railway Board and 10,000 files of Ministries/Departments outside National Archives of India will be completed.
Towards Freedom Project Under the `Towards Freedom' Project search for material from the records was continued and further selections of relevant materials were made from the collections of M. R. Jayakar (1942-47) & Rajendra Prasad (1939-42). Besides, the Unit also examined records of the following agencies : Home Department (Public Police and Jail (1940- 45), Home Political (1946-47), External Affairs (1942-44), External Affairs Political (1937), Rajputana Residency (1937-47), Freedom movement papers (B. Group, 1942-46). Further in the same connection the microfilm rolls of the private papers of Linlithgow (1937) and Haig (1937-39) were also examined and 9500 pages of the selected material were typed out. Members of the Unit also visited and selected relevant material covering the years 1937-40 from the State Archives, Delhi, Rajasthan, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. Besides keeping up its work regarding examinations and selection of material from the private papers as well as Official records the Unit proposes to select materials from State Archives of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra during the remaining period.
Steady progress was maintained in the preparation of reference media, both for the public records and private papers. Under the programme of preparation of summary inventory of records belonging to Foreign (Secret) Department (1799-1811) during the period work on records for the year 1804 was completed and that on records for the year 1805 was taken up. Also subject lists of 4,777 files of different branches of Home Department and 5,470 items of the collections of Rajendra Prasad, Dadabhai Naroji, P. K. Malaviya and B. D. Chaturvedi were prepared during April-November 1978. Besides, check lists of 61,268 files of the Public Works Department and Home Department were prepared and also 800 documents belonging to the Inayat Jang collection were descriptively docketed.
Subject listing of about 7,000 items of private papers, check list of about 13,800 files of Home Department (Separate Revenue) and 12,880 manuscript pages of Foreign (Secret) Department are to be prepared during the remaining period.
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Under the project of compilation of a Guide to the Records in the National Archives of India, Part II of the guide was brought out. it covers the records of the Home Department, its predecessor bodies (i.e. Public Department & General Department) as well as its successor body viz., Ministry of Home Affairs (1748-1957), The work regarding compilation of Part III (1756-1954) which is to include the records of the (i) Foreign and Political Department/Ministry of External Affairs/Ministry of States and (ii) Indian Overseas Department/Commonwealth Relations Department is in progress and it is expected to be completed during the remaining period under report.
Research and Reference Service About 350 Indian and Foreign scholars were provided with facilities for research among the records during April-November 1978. Approximately 250 scholars are expected to attend during the remaining period.
Technical Service Keeping up its programme of repair and rehabilitation of brittle documents, during the period the Department laminated 37,142 sheets, repaired 49,245 sheets and 749 maps and bound 580 volumes and 198 books. It is expected that 45,080 sheets will be laminated, 22,800 sheets will he repaired and 350 volumes and 300 books will be bound during the remaining period under report.
Microfilming of records and rendering of reprographic service to scholars were continued as usual. About 436260 exposures of microfilm, 4485 metres of positive printing, 18642 xerox copies and 1635 photo copies were prepared. It is expected that during the remaining period 188000 exposures, 3225 metres of positive printing, 22042 xerox copies and 1985 photo copies will be attended to by the Department.
Training in Archives Keeping During the period training facilities on the general principles of Archives Administration and repair and photo duplication of records, both in theoretical and practical fields, were provided to the trainees of the One-year Diploma Course in Archives Keeping as well as to the trainees of the short term courses of Record Management and Repair of Record. Under the One Year Diploma course 13 trainees (1977-78) completed their course and 16 candidates for the year 1978- 79 course were selected. Under the
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short term courses of Record Management and Repair of Records 15 & 9 candidates respectively coming from various Government Departments/agencies completed their courses. In addition, special training facilities in Repair and Photo duplication were provided to nominees of the National Archives of Malaysia, and Record Centre of National Archives of India, Jaipur. A special feature of the period under review was the commencement of the correspondence course in Archives keeping for one year. The course was started in June 1978 and 154 candidates from different parts of India were, admitted to the course and lessons were despatched to them. Practical training for these candidates would be conducted in National Archives of India and in selected State Archives like U.P., Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Publications During the period the following publications were brought out : Fort William India House Correspondence Vol. II (public series 1793- 95, Honorary Editor Amales Tripathi) the Indian Archives Vol. XXV No. 2 (July-December 1976), Vol. XXVI No. 1-2 (January-June 1977) ; The Annual Report of the National Archives of India, 1976-77, Compendium of the Resolutions of the Indian Historical Record Commission Volume 11 (1948-72) and proceedings of the 45th Session of Indian Historical Record Commission. Compilation of Volume XXVII No. 1 (January-June 1978) of the Indian Archives was completed and it is to be sent to the press shortly. Besides, work on volume IX of Bulletin of Research Theses and Dissertations is in progress. The work regarding compilation of material for the Indian Archives Vol. XXVII, No. 2 (July-December 1978) and the Annual Report of National Archives of India, 1978 would be undertaken during the remaining period under report.
National Register of Private Records Work on Volume IX containing information received from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and also a note on the material acquired by the National Archives of India from various private individuals during 1967-68 was completed. Compilation of volumes X and XI of the National Register is presently in progress.
Other Activities During the period under report, several officers of the Archives were deputed abroad to various countries to participate in seminars and conferences on various aspects of archives.