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Pre-1947 records to be exempted from scrutiny

Staff Reporter

Kolkata: In a move aimed at helping historians, the West Bengal Government has decided that confidential records till 1947 that are used for research purposes will be exempted from scrutiny.

"Till now, researchers could consult the confidential records of the Intelligence Branch or Home Political (confidential) but they had to send their notes to the political branch of the Home department, which would then be forwarded to the IB for vetting," Basudeb Chattopadhyay, Director, West Bengal State Archives, said.

"The IB would end up deleting parts that it considered objectionable," he added.

While the entire process of vetting that took up two to three months would add to dilatoriness, the scholars would also end up losing valuable facts that would have enriched their work.

The Government's directive, issued a few days ago, states that all pre-1947 confidential records available with the archives will be exempted from scrutiny for the purposes of bona fide scholars.

Already, a large number of files pertaining to the period between 1903-04 and 1940 have been transferred to the state archives.

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Pre-1947 records to be exempted from scrutiny

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