The National Archives of India (NAI) does not have records of 1962, 1965, and 1971 wars and the Green Revolution, as a number of Union ministries and departments have not shared their records with it, according to its Director General Chandan Sinha.

The NAI keeps and conserves records of the government of India and its organisations only. It does not receive classified documents.

Sinha said there are several ministries that have not shared their records with the NAI since Independence.

He noted that there are in all 151 ministries and departments, and the NAI has only records of 64 agencies, including 36 ministries and departments.

National Archives of India

• The National Archives of India (NAI) is the custodian of the records of enduring value of the government of India. 

• It was established on March 11, 1891 at Calcutta (Kolkata) as the Imperial Record Department (IRD).

• It was shifted to New Delhi in 1926. 

• After Independence, the IRD was rechristened as the National Archives of India.

• NAI is one of the largest and prestigious centres of archives in the world and holds records running into 80 crore pages, 57 lakh files and 1.2 lakh maps among others.

• It is the biggest archival repository in South Asia. It has a vast corpus of records — public records, private papers, oriental records, cartographic records and microfilms — which constitute an invaluable source of information for scholars, administrators and users of archives.

• The NAI is an attached office under the ministry of culture. The organisation is headed by the director general of archives who is assisted by deputy directors of archives looking after various divisions like records management, administration, training, publication, library, conservation, digitisation, etc.

• The department has a regional office in Bhopal and three records centres in Bhubaneswar, Jaipur and Puducherry.

• The NAI houses central government records of enduring value and private papers of eminent personalities for permanent preservation for the users. 

• It is the nodal agency for the implementation of The Public Records Act, 1993 and The Public Records Rules 1997, and assists various ministries/departments in their record management programmes. 

• It also renders guidance to various voluntary institutions and individuals for imparting technical know-how for preservation of valuable records and papers. 

Mission of NAI:

• Encourage scientific management, administration and conservation of records all over the country.

• Foster close relations between archivists and archival institutions, both at the national and international levels.

• Encourage greater liberalisation of access to archival holdings.

• Help in developing greater professionalism and a scientific temper among creators, custodians and users of records for proper care and use of our documentary heritage.

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