Bangladesh News

Government offices are not handing over public records, which have crossed 25 years, to the National Archives although there is a law that specifically says the archives will preserve those and ensure people’s access to them.

Officials decline to send the documents to the National Archives saying the practice is yet to develop. They do not care about complying with the relevant law — the National Archives Ordinance 1983 — as it does not provide for any punishment for violating it, said a number of senior officials.

Even the ministries and divisions do not regularly send documents to the establishment ministry, which is legally authorised to preserve government records centrally, sources in the ministry said.

The establishment ministry could have sent more than 25-year-old public records to the National Archives had the other ministries and government organs sent those to it regularly after completing their tasks, the sources added.

Contacted yesterday, Establishment Secretary Abdus Salam Khan said he has already asked his ministry’s officials to initiate steps as the other ministries do not send records to it.

“Initially, we want to do something at our own ministry, then we can suggest other ministries to follow it,” the establishment secretary said. The practice of preserving public records properly has not developed as yet, he admitted.

An inter-ministerial committee was formed over 16 months ago to take effective measures for transfer of public records to the National Archives but the committee is yet to begin functioning, sources in the cultural affairs ministry said.

According to the 1983 ordinance, public offices are supposed to hand over minutes, notices and summaries of their meetings and historical documents to the archives for permanent preservation.

This law empowers people to get access to records preserved at the archives, which is under the cultural affairs ministry, for the purpose of research and reference.

But the public offices that include the President’s Secretariat, ministries, divisions, departments and offices under their control, the Supreme Court and all civil and criminal courts and tribunals, offices of the defence forces, Bangladesh Rifles and any courts set up under the defence service laws, office of any ambassador, high commissioner or any other diplomatic representative of the country situated outside Bangladesh and office of any local authority are not complying with the law.

“It shall be the duty of the responsible officer of any public office or any other person for the time being having custody of any public records to transfer such records, being records not less than twenty-five years old, as are required by the Director [chief of the archives] to be transferred to the National Archives for permanent preservation … ” says Section 9 (2) (d) of The National Archives Ordinance 1983.

On public access to the records, Section 11 of the law says that subject to the conditions under which any public records are made available or are deposited in the National Archives, records which are more than 30-year-old shall be made available to the public for the purpose of reference or research.

The 1983 ordinance empowers the archives to collect, preserve and maintain permanent records, but officials of the archives are facing tremendous difficulties in collecting documents from government offices.

“The central and field level government offices refuse to give any documents to us. They always deny our rights to have the required documents. But we can’t do anything as there is no legal provision to punish officials who refuse to comply with the law,” a senior official of the National Archives told this correspondent.

“Most of the records preserved at the achieves are of the British period. We have been able to collect only a few documents of Bangladesh era on our own initiatives,” the official said.

In a major breakthrough in this field, the caretaker government on Wednesday formally handed over some historic documents of the Cabinet Division to the National Archives. These include minutes, notices and summaries of cabinet meetings dating back to 25 years and some historical documents on appointments and oath of the presidents, vice presidents and prime ministers.

Speaking briefly on the occasion, Chief Adviser Fakhruddin said transfer of these documents would help carry out research and write history.

These important documents would also be preserved better at the archives and it would benefit the new generation, he noted.

But the council of advisers at its meeting on that day [Wednesday] however did not direct other government offices to transfer such records to the National Archives, sources in the Cabinet Division said.

Asked if the Cabinet Division can instruct other government offices to send0000 records to the archives, one official said, “It needs a change of mindset. When there is a law, there is no need to issue such instructions.”

The official however said the cultural affairs ministry can take initiative to ensure the rights of the National Archives to have the secret records of the Cabinet Division since the Rules of Business of the government has been amended, clearing the way in this regard.

The caretaker government in December last year amended the Rules of Business, removing obstacles to transfer of the Cabinet Division’s secret records which are more than 25-year-old, to the National Archives.

According to Section 24 (1) of the Rules of Business, all proceedings of the cabinet meetings and records directly related thereto shall be treated as secret documents.

The council of advisers in December last year amended this section. Now the words ’secret documents’ have been substituted by “secret documents for twenty-five years and after such period those records will be treated as classified documents”.

On the amendment, senior officials of the Cabinet Division said all their records are extremely secret ones but records of other ministries and divisions are not so. Some records of the ministries of home and defence are however treated as secret documents.

But with the amendment, secret documents that are more than 25-year-old can be sent to the National Archives with some conditions on their disclosure to the public, the officials noted.