Govt digitizes 4m historical records to preserve Pakistan’s heritage

Mettis Link News reported that the government has digitised close to 4m historical records in a drive to modernise the National Archives of Pakistan (NAP). Documents seen by Wealth Pakistan show the work is being carried out under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) project Strengthening and Modernising National Archives of Pakistan.

According to APP, another 50,000 historical records were restored to guard them against deterioration and keep them for future generations. So far the digitisation programme has covered 2.7m pages, including rare books, manuscripts and newspapers. Photographs, microfilm rolls, audio and video recordings have likewise been turned into digital files.

The government is also setting up an information technology wing at the archive to support digital preservation and better management of archival data. The scheme is expected to widen public access to historical material, letting researchers, policymakers and other users find records more efficiently online. It also seeks to cut the chance of valuable papers being permanently lost or harmed by age, decay and natural disasters.