PMO hands over 33 Netaji files to National Archives

NEW DELHI: The Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose files are all set to be declassified. On Friday, the first batch of 33 secret files related to the great leader of the freedom movement were handed over by the Prime Minister's Office to the National Archives thereby setting the stage for their declassification in January next year.

The files were handed over by Nripendra Misra, principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to the director general of National Archives for "further processing, preservation and digitization, in preparation for the final release to the nation of all 58 files in the PMO," according to an official release.

On October 14, Modi had declared that a batch of the secret files would be declassified on January 23, the birth anniversary of Netaji, meeting the demand of Bose's family.

The union ministries of Home Affairs and External Affairs are also working on the release of files under their custody.

One might recall that earlier in September this year, the West Bengal government had declassified 64 files which were in the possession of the Kolkata and West Bengal police.