Destroyed files identified during UPA regime: Rajnath

The government on Monday sought to put the onus on the previous UPA regime for the decision to destroy 11,100 files of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), saying the process of identifying them was done between August 2012 and May 2013.

Responding to questions and concerns raised by Rajya Sabha MPs in the midst of a controversy over destruction of files relating to the MHA, Home Minister Rajnath Singh assured the House that no file relating to Mahatma Gandhi, former President Rajendra Prasad, former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri or the last Viceroy of India Lord Mountbatten had been destroyed. The government, he said, will not allow tampering or destruction of any link with the country’s glorious history and allayed fears of the members that BJP-led NDA government was trying to destroy continuity of India’s history.

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Singh said this is not the first time that files have been destroyed in the Ministry and the same has been done as per the mandate of manual of office procedure. He also denied that less than a minute was taken by the government in destroying the 11,100 files.

Meanwhile, the Congress asked the government to come out with a white paper on the files. It also demanded an impartial inquiry into the issue.