Bhubaneswar: Odisha State Archives, the state’s first archive, boasts of 10 crore pages of documents and undoubtedly has a rich repository of knowledge. Established in 1960, the archives started functioning from a separate building 1971 onwards at Sachivalaya Marg here.
With the aim to know the ground realities of the tall claims made by the archive authorities, Orissa POST interacted with its staff, former staff, researchers as well as some students.
With more than six lakh records, the State Archives serve thousands of researchers and students across the state.
Maheswar Das, ex-superintendent of the State Archives, said, “The archives are governed by the 1978 Archival policy. One can find newspapers or documents related to formation of Odisha, history of language liberation, and shifting of capital from Cuttack to Bhubaneswar in 1948 here.”
He added, “You may be astonished that the State Archives also has the records of the great famine of 1866.”
The website of the Archive says, “They (Archives) are connecting link between the past and present and therefore much valued by the creating agencies and academic investigators who are deeply interested in the records of the hoary past.” The archives has started the digitising its records. However, many feel that the process has been very slow.
It may be mentioned here that the archives functions from 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM and remains closed on Sundays, second Saturdays and all government holidays. Many researchers and students feel that the archives should not close by 4:30 PM. Simple Mishra, a student from Utkal University, remarked, “They should consider closing it late, these are not hard and fast rules!”
On the other hand, superintendent of the State Archives Suchismita Mantry, said, “This isn’t a library; it is a restricted area which has been allowed to function till 5 PM.”
Mantry refuted the allegations that the digitisation has been slow, adding, “Only a few records are in the process to be digitised.”
Many students felt that the archives do not have its records organised due to which it’s an arduous task to locate the records. Moreover, many records are in very bad shape, making them unreadable. They added that even after multiple complaints the authorities have not initiated any action.
However, Chandi Nanda, a history professor at Ravenshaw University, differed. He heaped praises on the Archives.
“The Archives has many documents that can’t be found anywhere. There are lakhs of records on the culture history of the state, state’s art and its administration, for instance records of the state assembly and many more,” he said.
“I don’t agree with anyone who says that the Archives has lagged or has been derelict in its purpose. It’s the finest hub for researchers and students,” he added.