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Cracking the whip: PM Narendra Modi dusts files of yore

Nearly 1.5 lakh files not required any more have so far been destroyed
New Delhi: On a cleanliness spree after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s directive, the Union home ministry has opened up files that gathered dust for years. Stuck in steel almirahs, some files hadn’t been opened for years, and have rare nuggets of information.
One file was on the sanction to pay India’s first Governor-General, Lord Mountbatten, the princely sum of Rs 64,000 as TA/DA allowance to move back to Britain after his term ended in 1948. That sum today, after factoring inflation, would amount to several crores of rupees, a ministry official said.
Another rare nugget was that the pension of India’s first President, Rajendra Prasad, and the salary of late PM Lal Bahadur Shastri were sent to the calamity fund after they refused to accept it.
Another file has details of the Cabinet meeting before Mahatma Gandhi’s death was announced.
While the MHA is tightlipped on the fate of these files, and if they are being preserved in digital form, sources said that nearly 1.5 lakh files not required any more have so far been destroyed in the cleanliness drive.
Besides files, the MHA and its offices have removed junk and broken furniture from rooms and corridors. The files are first shredded before being given out as junk.
Under the normal procedure, files are divided into three categories. In ‘A’ category are files that are five-years-old. Category ‘B’ is for files that are 10-15-years-old. Category ‘C’ is for those that are over 15-years-old. Files of historic importance are sent to the National Archives.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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