Principal Secretary, Odia Language, Literature and Culture, Bishnupada Sethi has stressed on strengthening Odisha State Archives and focusing on digitisation of paper records. Sethi was speaking at a ceremony organised to celebrate the Archives Week.
He stressed that the crucial documents need to be preserved and the records in shape of volumes, loose sheets, files, old gazettes, maps and newspapers housed in the archives need to be digitised.
Sethi said the documents contain the most valuable information on the history of formation of Modern Odisha such as freedom struggle, creation of Odisha province, natural calamities, first settlement in the State and account of the social customs prevailing during earlier time such as Sati and human sacrifice. The records also include documents from the pre-Independence era. Sethi harped on collection of records of Maratha rule, Zemindars, kings and rulers. Professor Ashok Kumar Patnaik made a query about collection of documents on Pt Jawaharlal Nehru's Odisha visit and Netaji Subhas Cahndra Bose’s connect with Odisha. Director Culture Ranjan Kumar Das and State Archives Superintendent Sk Soleman Ali spoke among others.
