October 28, 2003	Tuesday	Ramazan 1, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 27: The federal ministries and provincial departments are persistently violating the parliamentary acts and presidential orders in relation to their obligation to the National Archives.

The cabinet division and the interior and defence ministries are among the important offices which have failed to comply with the law.

The National Archives Act, 1993, passed by the National Assembly on Feb 8, 1993, and the Senate on March 2, 1993, received the assent of the president on March 29, 1993.

The Archival Material (Preservation and Export Control) Act, 1975, also provides for preservation of all materials which may be of historical significance.

According to sources, the cabinet division has so far surrendered no records to the National Archives. The interior ministry has submitted record only of up to 1965.

A substantial portion of important record pertaining to religious organizations and militant groups, maintained in the record room of the ministry and supposed to be transferred to the archives, was destroyed in the fire which gutted the old secretariat.

Of the thousands of official documents produced since the creation of the country, only 169 files of the defence ministry are available in the National Archives. The foreign affairs ministry has preferred to keep its record with itself for reasons of official expediency, making it difficult for the public to access it.

The law makes it mandatory on the government departments to submit all papers, documents, records, registers, printed material, books, maps, plans, drawings, computer records, machine-readable records, photographs, microfilms, cinematographic films and audio and video recordings officially received or produced, including records relating to commissions and committees appointed by the federal government.

Any non-current public records which are more than five years old, including records of defunct agencies, are supposed to be transferred to the National Archives.

Sources said the only exception provided in the law for non-submission of records was left vague in terms of time by stating: “the secretary of an administrative division may withhold the transfer of any such records to the National Archives for such period or periods as may be prescribed.”

The ministries and departments persistently use the clause to beat the objectives of the legislation, they said.

They said research and development in the social sciences was likely to suffer.

Sources said the National Archives was grossly understaffed and various review committees on its functioning had proposed increased manpower, but to no avail.

In 2004, the National Archives plans to review some 50,000 files of various departments.

The review committee comprises two retired professors of the Quaid-i-Azam University, the National Archives director-general and an official of the relevant ministry or department.