Losing history

At a recent workshop organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances on the occasion of Good Governance Day, the Director-General of the National Archives of India (NAI) revealed that most government departments were not complying with the requirement to submit their files and records to the archivists after 25 years had passed. This is a mandate under the Public Records Act of 1993 — but, like many other such mandates, there is a national-security exemption that is clearly being overused by ministries and departments. The NAI’s Director-General pointed out there were no records in the archives of the wars that India has fought — even though six decades have passed since the 1962 clashes with China, for