20 million records of nine princely states to go digital
BIKANER: This (digitisation) will help people and research scholars. State govt depts, including the judiciary, research centre, library and other state archives will also benefit from the online records MAHENDRA KHADGAWAT, director of state archives department
The Rajasthan government will digitize more than 20 million historical and revenue records of nine erstwhile princely sates for the future generation.
Chief minister Vasunhara Raje made the announced of digitizing and microfilming of administrative and historic documents in her budget speech on Monday, which will cost more than ₹10 crore.
The government will digitize administrative documents of the erstwhile princely states of Kishangarh, Karoli, Dholpur, Kota, Udaipur, Ajmer, Jaisalmer, Shahpura and Jhalawar and will upload the archived records on the official website of the state archives department, said Mahendra Khadgawat, director of the Rajasthan state archives department.
The website has more than 8 million historical and revenue records of Rajputana’s princely states that are available for research scholars, administraspent tive department, and judiciary, he told Hindustan Times.
The online records are available for different research uses, including teaching, building plans, publications and legal proceeding, he said
“This will help people and research scholars. State government departments, including the judiciary, research centre, library and other state archives will also benefit from the online records as they obtain essential information for use in legal process and research.”
More than ₹10 crore will be in digitizing, microfilming and preserving the documents, said Khadgawat.
Under the project, records of non-archival value will be also be restored and preserved in the form of microfilms, he said.
There are more than 325,000 patta or land records of the Bikaner division, including Bikaner Bahiyat, records from the British era, confidential records and files of Praja Mandal and the peasant movement of the erstwhile princely state of Bikaner that have been archive, officials in the department said.
The department has also archived classified files dating from 1896 to 1927 of Bikaner princely state, and confidential secretariat records dating from 1894 to 1940 of the princely state of Jaipur state, some of them said.
Besides revenue and settlement records, political administration reports, gazetteers, rules and regulation, city Improvement, and rare books, too, have archived in addition to administrative reports of 110 erstwhile princely states of India.