As focus shifts away from archives, Kerala state’s rich history at risk of erasure 

Department is now more concerned about building heritage centres and museums across Kerala
Palm leaf manuscripts that are getting dusted on the shelves of the archives office 
Palm leaf manuscripts that are getting dusted on the shelves of the archives office 

KOCHI:  A large collection of documents and rare records, including palm-leaf manuscripts, with the Kerala state archives department is in ruins. And experts are concerned that the valuable records -- some dating back to the 15th and 16th century --, that shed light on the state’s rich history and its lesser-known facets, will be lost forever in the absence on any immediate remedial action.

According to insiders, the department, whose primary job is the preservation and conservation of archival records and historical documents, is now focused on building museums in different parts of the state. The precious documents remain dumped on the shelves and atop almirahs of the department’s regional offices in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode, and the main office in the state capital. 

Shockingly, these documents have remained on top of almirahs “unclassified and untouched by humans for more than half a century”, says P Narayanan, former head of the department of history at SD College Alappuzha, who has been visiting archive centres in the state since 1978.

Historian Cherayi Ramdas, who frequents the regional office in Kochi for his research, says the situation is really alarming. Some of the documents that are on the verge of getting lost due to lack of proper care and attention include resident letters and resident memo books (1814-1896) -- letters and memos from the resident to the Diwan of Cochin and the Raja, Diwan’s English Diaries (1814-1897) -- 100 books containing copies of letters written by successive diwans of the state mostly to the British resident, he said. 

“Simply put, several chapters of Kerala’s history are slowly getting erased from the records because of our negligence and carelessness.” Narayanan points out that many of the documents have become “too brittle and gnawed, and thus unreadable”.

“The churunas and the olas have also started waning,” he says.

Shocked after seeing the plight of the archives, Narayanan wrote a detailed letter pointing out their pitiable condition to V Venu, who is the additional chief secretary at the department of cultural affairs in charge of archaeology, archives, and museums, at least two years back. “Though Venu replied that he would look into the issue, the situation continues to be the same, if it has not worsened,” says Narayanan, a former fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla. TNIE contacted Rejikumar J, director of the department of state archives, who presented a rosy picture, at variance with what experts said. 

According to Ramdas, there is not even a comprehensive or modern catalogue of the archives in the offices. “Worse, no one knows where the important documents listed in the catalogue are. The disappearance of valuable documents is not an isolated incident. If the situation continues, I don’t think there will be any documents left in our archives ten years from now,” he said.

Though digitisation of documents is the solution, efforts on this front have proved to be a disaster. The Kerala government-owned Centre for Development of Imaging Technology’s (C-DIT) digitisation activities have been a shoddy affair, and probably caused more damage, an internal audit found.

The 2018-19 report of the directorate of archives, Thiruvananthapuram, found that on completion of various digitisation projects, the external hard disks and CDs were not indexed, and the data with the archivist were not readily available. Further, it was found that C-DIT outsourced the work to Thiruvananthapuram-based Atelier Outsourcing Solutions. 

“The digitisation was carried out in a completely unprofessional manner, so much so that the original documents were damaged in the process,” an official said on condition of anonymity.  “A large number of archives that we have in our possession are not even in the London archives. The next generation of researchers will not get access to any of these documents,” another official added. 

Narayanan said the digitisation reminded him of the cliche, ‘remedy has proved worse than the disease’. Though the digitisation of some documents was done some time back, at the end of the day the user is not in a position either to read the original files or to get its soft copy, he says. “The whole exercise was done ignoring the basic dictum: ‘conservation should precede digitisation of documents’,” he says. 

Some documents that may be lost forever

  •  Divans English Diaries (1814-1897) -- copies of letters written by successive Diwans of the state mostly to the British Resident
  •  Resident’s Letters & Resident’s Memo Books (1814-1896) -- letters and memos from the Resident to the Diwan of Cochin and the Raja
  •  Coffee Estate (1840-1892) -- correspondence and deeds relating to the coffee estates in the state
  •  Public Officer Books (1858-1896) -- letters received by the Diwan of Cochin from different offices both in and outside the state
  •  Educational (1859-1897) -- copies of certificates, letter books, minutes, progress reports of educational institutions in the state

Museum mania hurting

The state archives department is busy setting up museums and spending money on their construction. The department recently opened the Archives Museum in Thiruvananthapuram and established five heritage centres in Idukki, Vaikkom, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kollam. “Nothing is happening at these centres.

At the Vaikkom Satyagraha Museum, one superintendent, two permanent staff and nine contract staff are posted. They remain idle when their primary job is collection and maintenance of public records,” said an official. While D3 crore was spent on the Archives Museum, the plan fund for the protection and conservation of documents is diverted for setting up and maintaining these centres. “That’s the tragedy,” the official added.

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