Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday accepted the policy on archiving, declassification and compilation of histories of wars and operations by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday accepted the policy on archiving, declassification and compilation of histories of wars and operations by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
“Timely publication of war histories would give people accurate account of the events, provide authentic material for academic research and counter the unfounded rumours,” the MoD’s assertion famous.
According to the policy, every organisation beneath the MoD corresponding to tri-services, Integrated Defence Staff, Assam Rifles and Indian Coast Guard, will switch the information, together with war diaries, letters of proceedings and operational file books, to the History Division of MoD for correct maintenance, archival and writing of histories.
“The responsibility for declassification of records rests with the respective organisations as specified in the Public Record Act 1993 and the Public Record Rules 1997,” the MoD’s assertion famous. According to the policy, information ought to ordinarily be declassified in 25 years.Â
“Records older than 25 years should be appraised by archival experts and transferred to the National Archives of India once the war/operations histories have been compiled,” it acknowledged.
The History Division shall be answerable for coordination with numerous departments whereas compiling, searching for approval and publishing of histories of wars and operations, it talked about.Â
“The policy mandates constitution of a committee headed by Joint Secretary, MoD and comprising of representatives of the tri-services, MEA (Ministry of External Affairs), MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) and other organisations and prominent military historians (if required), for compilation of war and operations histories,” it famous.
The policy additionally set clear timelines with regard to compilation and publication of histories of wars and operations, it talked about. “The above-mentioned committee should be formed within two years of completion of war/operations. Thereafter, collection of records and compilation should be completed in three years and disseminated to all concerned,” it acknowledged.
The requirement of having war histories written with clear minimize policy on declassification of war information was advisable by the Kargil Review Committee headed by Okay Subrahmanyam in addition to N N Vohra Committee so as to analyse classes learnt and stop future errors.Â
“Post Kargil War in 1999, GoM (Group of Ministers) recommendations on national security also mentioned the desirability of authoritative war history,” the assertion talked about.
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