Japanese Mending Technique Adopted to Preserve Archives: T.N. Minister Chezhiaan

Speedy Summary

• Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister,Govi Chezhiaan,inaugurated the golden jubilee of the National Committee of Archivists in Chennai on September 18,2025.
• Tamil Nadu Archives has preserved over 40 crore ancient documents using modern techniques; ₹10 crore annually allocated for preservation efforts utilizing advanced Japanese tissue mending.
• Two publications released: ‘Revolts Against British Rule in Tamil Nadu and Supreme Sacrifices Prior to 1857 AD’ and ‘The Four Mysore Wars and the Conquests of Tamil Nadu’.
• To promote historical research, young researchers are being offered a stipend of ₹25,000 per month by the Tamil Nadu government.
• Japanese tissue mending technique used to preserve eight lakh military records out of a targeted ten lakh for the first year. Preservation focus will expand to revenue records next.
• Director General Sanjay Rastogi highlighted digitization initiatives at National archives of India (NAI), encompassing over 14 million pages on its portal abhilek-patal.in. NAI aims to complete full digitization within two years.
• Mr. Rastogi noted gaps in collaboration between State and Center, citing an absence of Centrally-funded schemes like Abhilek-Sampada, which is under development.
• Higher Education Secretary P. Shankar emphasized archives as vital repositories capturing national memory and societal evolution.

Indian Opinion Analysis

Efforts by both state entities like the Tamil Nadu Archives and national organizations such as NAI reflect India’s commitment toward preserving its rich historical legacy amid advancing technologies.With ample funding allocated at state levels-such as Tamil Nadu’s annual ₹10 crore budget-and collaborative focus on document preservation methods like Japanese tissue mending coupled with digitization drives from NAI’s platform (abhilek-patal.in), Indian archival practices are steadily moving toward modernity.

The release of region-specific publications further underscores efforts to spotlight local contributions during critical periods in history-for example,resistance against colonial rule or heroism during wars-ensuring wider public engagement with untold stories that shape collective identity beyond mainstream narratives.

Though, gaps noted by officials regarding Central-State collaboration highlight systemic inefficiencies that could hinder unified progress in archival modernization nationwide. If initiatives such as Abhilek-Sampada succeed post deliberation stages into implementation, they hold potential importance for creating standardized frameworks across states while easing financial challenges smaller regions might face independently.

Promoting involvement through incentives to young researchers suggests foresight into nurturing future custodianship over India’s vast heritage-a practical step potentially yielding expertise essential for long-term realization of these goals.

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