Public Records Act

Some of the salient features of the Public Records Act are as follows:

• Regulation of the management, administration and preservation of Public Records of the Central Government, Union territory Administration, Public Sector Undertakings, statutory bodies and corporations, Commissions and Committees constituted by the Central Government or a Union territory Administration and matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
• Empowerment of the Director General of Archives on behalf of Central Government for archives administration and, management of Public Records in all the Records Creating Agencies.
• Nomination of Records Officers and setting up of Records Rooms.
• Appraisal of all public records more than 25 years old in consultation with the National Archives of India and the transfer of records of permanent value to National Archives of India.
• Accessibility of all unclassified public records more than 30 years old and transferred to the National Archives of India to bona fide research scholars.
• there is no regulatory mechanism for effective monitoring in the existing Public Records Act (PRA). The Government had set up a Review Panel in 2009 and a Consultative Committee in 2010 to study the working of PRA and Public Record Rules and suggest amendments therein.