MANAGEMENT OF RECORD SHOWING THE RETENTION PERIOD RECOMMENDED FOR RECORD OF COMMON INTEREST TO DEPARTMENTS

Records constitute an important part of any office and it is, therefore essential that they are retained and properly cared for. Records that have outlived their utility should be destroyed, relieving pressure on costly storage space which is more urgently required for the staff and new record. As far as the term Record Management is concerned, it is very wide and includes interalia principles, practices and skill needed for achieving the most effective creation, use, maintenance and retention, protection, preservation and weeding/elimination of record. The main purpose of the Record Management are :-- (1) To speed up the location of and reference to record as a means of speeding up of disposal of business. (2) To effect savings in cost of creating, locating, using, maintaining, retaining, preserving and eliminating record. (3) A scrupulous avoidance of creation of unnecessary record in all offices. It is the foremost duty of all offices and officers to see that only that record is created in the department as is essential. (4) To retain only the necessary active and the required record. (5) Audit of record creation which requires consistent vigilance on the part of officers to ensure that the reports, returns, statements and Registers etc etc, prepared or maintained in various offices under their control are the minimum required for the efficient functioning of the Department. It is necessary to verify the facts placed on record at Annexure 19-A " Statement showing the retention period recommended for the record of common interest to departments. The Heads of offices and departments should follow these recommendations unless there are special reasons in particular cases. Care should be taken to see that files containing papers which are important or likely to become important in future, however indirectly, as sources of information on any aspect of history whether political, military, social, economic etc etc or which are on may in future prove to be, of biographical or antiquarian interest are not destroyed. However, files containing papers of the following type, which have a definite historical value, should invariably be preserved. (a) Original papers containing discussions of important principles and questions of policy. (b) Original papers relating to legislation. :-- Er Fateh chand Guleria, RTI Welfare Association registered number HPCD 3552 Bilaspur Himachal pradesh phone number 9459334377