Other States - Orissa   

No premises for archives centre

BHUBANESWAR: Never-ending administrative apathy coupled with lack of political will has left the Regional Centre of the National Archives here in dark, disappointing scores of scholars, writers and researchers.

One of the four centers in India that cater to 12 eastern and north-eastern Indian states including the Andaman and Nicober Islands and Orissa, it was set up 11 years ago as an outcome of the initiatives of the then Union Culture Minister Krupasindhu Bhoi and Union Culture Secretary and eminent writer Sitakant Mohapatra, both hailing from the State.

Today, it houses 36,000 rare documents on diverse subjects, ranging from letters of eminent writers and freedom fighters to the stamp papers used during the British Raj and patent rights procured from European nations.

The center is yet to have its own building. At present it is being managed by only two archivists. “The center is receiving tremendous pressure from institutions and individuals of the region to acquire new significant documents. We need an area of nearly 10,000 square feet to store the collection but the present rented building offers just 4,100 square feet. We also require at least ten persons to properly manage the center, especially attending the need of the visiting researchers from India and abroad,” explained center-in-charge archivist Mr. Lalatendu Das Mohapatra.

Orissa Government provided 2.29 acres of land in the centrally located Madhusudan Nagar in 1999 to build up permanent premises for the archives, which can house a conservation research laboratory, a guest house for scholars, an auditorium and staff quarters.

But the work has not commenced till date for reasons best known to the authorities.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

No premises for archives centre
More tourists throng diamond triangle
Only 1.5 per cent of tribals graduates: study
Management courses
POSCO chief visits Nuagaon, Gadakujang
Bandh hits normal life
Court directs Cuttack Corporation to redo desiltation works
‘City Walk’ hits rough patch
Khalikote College students honoured
Two e-mail threats received by CMO on Aug. 20
Extra sleeper coach in Prashanti Express

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu