File photo: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said no historic files have been destroyed by his ministry during a recent 'cleaning drive'.
Making a statement in the Rajya Sabha, the Home Minister said all important files, including those related to Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, are safe.
"Government dumped only about 11,100 redundant files which have no documentary and historical value," Rajnath Singh informed the Upper House.
The clarification came as Opposition members on Wednesday raised concerns over historic files being destroyed by the home ministry.
The Upper House was disrupted as Opposition members, quoting media reports, alleged that nearly 1.5 lakh files, including several historically important files, were destroyed by the Home Ministry during a cleaning drive.
Communist Party of India-Marxist leader P Rajeev claimed the files contained historic documents like the record of Lal Bahadur Shastri giving his salary to the calamity fund, India's first President Rajendra Prasad refusing to take his pension, and a file which had the minutes of a cabinet meeting held just before the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
Rajnath Singh said, "All the files related to Mahatma Gandhi's assassination case are safe and they have been kept intact in the National Archives. No files related to Lal Bahadur Shastri and Rajendra Prasad were destroyed."