Sambalpur: Maintenance of records at the Sambalpur Regional Archives, a crucial repository of historical data, has been severely hit due to a shortage of staff and insufficient resources.
On account of the lack of an adequate workforce to manage and organise the archives, researchers are facing difficulties in accessing information and are often forced to travel to Bhubaneswar for data collection, sources said.
Established in April 1993 under the Odisha State Archives in Bhubaneswar, the facility initially ran from the District Red Cross building in Bhatapada, Sambalpur. In 2014, it was relocated to a newly constructed three-storeyed building in Hirakud Colony and continues to function there.
Sources said despite the approved staff strength of 11, the office currently operates with just one officer and two assistants. Key positions such as record keeper, stenographer, photocopy operator, peon, security guard, and maintenance worker remain unfilled. A single contractual worker is handling both janitorial and security duties, sources added.
Additionally, the building has seen little maintenance since its construction in 2014, leading to visible damage on the walls and plasters chipping off the ceiling. The institution has also stopped receiving newspapers with the last approved subscription dating back several years. While old newspapers from the period before 1993 remain archived, the absence of new subscriptions is hampering research efforts, sources said, adding that authorities have been urged to approve immediate funding for newspaper procurement.
The archives house invaluable historical records, including the Bihar and Odisha Gazette, rare books, legislative debates, and documents related to eminent figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Gopabandhu Das, and Madhusudan Das.
Other important records include those on the Jagannath temple administration, Odisha’s re-organisation movement, the history of Odisha, Bhubaneswar’s archaeological remains and memory of Bengal citizens. Research journals such as Odisha Itihas Anusandhan Patrika, Odisha Samiksha, and Utkal Prasanga are also available here.
Furthermore, documents on freedom fighter Veer Surendra Sai–the rebellious zamindar of Ghens, the Independence movement in western Odisha, the region’s role in the freedom movement, list of freedom fighters and martyrs, the language movement in Sambalpur for the creation of Odisha as a separate province, the pioneers of the language movement, the history and establishment of Sambalpur and the Samaleswari Temple, royal lineage and heritage of Sambalpur, traditional festivals of the region, folk arts, the Hirakud Dam project, Kosalananda Kavya, Patna Deepika, and Patna State Gazette, along with Khosla’s report on these, serve as valuable historical records. These resources are highly beneficial for history students and researchers.
As a key institution for preserving non-contemporary administrative and historical records, the archives are responsible for acquiring, scientifically preserving, and laminating documents to benefit both administrators and researchers. Given its significance as a national heritage repository, chorus is growing for urgent staffing, maintenance, and improved preservation efforts of the archives.
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Kishore Naik, Curator of Sambalpur Regional Archives, said the ongoing staff crunch arose after positions across departments remained vacant following the retirement of the incumbent employees. “Those posts have not yet been filled,” he said.
Naik said the facility urgently requires bookbinders to preserve important records, but none have been hired. “Managing a three-storey office and carrying out operations have become increasingly difficult with just three employees,” he said adding that when employees remain absent for official work or take leave, the office has to shut down, causing inconvenience to students, researchers, and historians.
PNN
