The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Shri Nripendra Misra, today officially handed over the first set of files related to Netaji to the Director General, National Archives of India, setting the stage for their declassification beginning on 23rd January, 2016.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, had on 14th October, 2015 welcomed with great warmth and pride to his home in 7-RCR, the extended family of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Conveying the honour he felt in being the first Prime Minister to do so, he had assured the family members that the emotions and aspirations they had expressed were fully shared by him and his government.
Emphasizing that history cannot be created by those who forget their own history, the Prime Minister had categorically stated that his government did not believe in constraining or strangulating history in any way, and was committed to opening up information on Netaji to the people of India. He had assured Netaji’s family that all possible effort towards the same would be made, from the declassification of Netaji files to taking up the matter with other nations. He had further promised that the declassification and public release of the files would begin on 23rd January, 2016, the Birth Anniversary of Netaji.
Working towards this commitment, the government has been undertaking the process of due diligence stipulated under declassification procedures and guidelines.
As a part of the same, the first batch of 33 PMO files have been cleared, and were handed over to the National Archives of India today for further processing, preservation and digitization, in preparation for the final release to the nation of all 58 files in the PMO. The Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of External Affairs are separately taking action for release of files under their custody.
This marks an important milestone in fulfilling the long pending demand of the people of India, for the declassification of files related to Netaji.
