CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Archives and Historical Research Department has been opened up for research for the first time. College students are set to get scholarships to access rare records in the State archives.

Students can take up research projects as approved by the Special Commissioner of Archives and Historical Research in accordance with the rules drawn by the government.

A senior official of the School Education Department told DT Next that permission to access records granted will be for a term of two years. “Each selected research student will get a stipend of Rs 10,000 per month till the completion of the project”, the official said.

The Inspection of records for research projects will be allowed only in the Tamil Nadu Archives, the official added. “There would be a separate research hall where the records would be kept for research purposes. A set of indexes, press lists and other finding aids will be kept in the research hall for ready reference and easy consultation”, he said.

Each research student can access a maximum of ten documents at any point of time, which officials are looking at relaxing in the near future.

As per instructions, researchers aren’t supposed to indulge in photographic reproduction or microfilming or tracing of records without the written permission of the special commissioner.

“The research students who have used the State archives are required to submit their published works as soon as it is submitted to the concerned University or once it is published”, the official added.

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