The National Archives of India (NAI) has revealed that it does not have records of the 1962 Indo-China war, the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971; it also lacks data about the green revolution.
Speaking during a workshop on Friday, NIA's Director General Chandan Sinha further stated that many federal ministries and departments have not shared files with them: "There are 151 ministries and departments in all, the NAI has got records from only 64 agencies, including 36 ministries and departments."
Sinha noted that as per the Public Record 1983 Act, various ministries and departments are supposed to transfer records more than 25 years old to the national archives unless they are deemed to be classified information.
Expressing his sadness to share that the federal cultural ministry doesn't have data, Sinha said, "We are not holding history in trust. Indeed, the question that we must face is that are we losing a large part of our history since independence."
Stating that there should be no unauthorized destruction of files, he suggested that in fact there should be one-year imprisonment for the offense.