Tamil Nadu Historical Research Council revamp on cards

TIRUCHY: The Higher Education Department has decided to revamp the functioning of Tamil Nadu Historical Research Council, under Tamil Nadu Archives. Accordingly, In Tamil Nadu Archives, there are approximately 40 crore files of records.

A senior official from the Higher Education Department told DT Next that all the records of the various departments of the Secretariat from 1670 down to 2017 are brought together here in the Tamil Nadu Archives.

Stating that all the records in this archive are centralised as far as possible, properly arranged, catalogued and preserved in the office, he said, “in addition, most of the records were digitised.”

The official said considering the importance of various government department records, preservation of administrative and historically important documents were taken up across the state.

6 district record centres

“In order to spread out the activities of Tamil Nadu Archives, six district record centres have been formed,” he said adding, “the centres have started functioning at Cuddalore, Salem, Coimbatore, Thanjavur, Tiruchy and Madurai to preserve the records of the government.

Pointing out that a total of Rs 1.50 crore has been sanctioned for “Implementation of e-Archives portal of the State in Tamil Nadu Archives,” the official said “it becomes possible to easily store documents and access records and it will also facilitates the easy search of records and the safe transmission of documents to future generations,” he said.

The official said the government has also sanctioned Rs 10 crore for renovation and restoration work of Tamil Nadu Archives Buildings.

“At the same time, the government have sanctioned Rs 4.80 lakh for research scholarship scheme, he said and claimed that under the scheme four eligible research scholars will be enrolled for a maximum period of one year with a stipend of Rs 10,000 per month for pursuing research fellowship in Tamil Nadu Archives and Historical research.