Minister pledges to increase allocation for National Archives

Minister of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Vidura Wickramanayaka has pledged his fullest support for the National Archives and promised to increase the budgetary allocation from next year.

The Minister said so speaking at the celebrations for International Archives Day on 09 June, held at the National Archives in Colombo,The lawmaker stressed that his approach is to pay attention to the requirements of the National Archives, rather than to dictate terms.

The Minister, and Secretary to the line ministry of the National Archives, Somaratne Vidanapathirana, both signed the register of support for the Universal Declaration on Archives on that day. Academics, intellectuals and members of the general public and schoolboys, took the opportunity to sign the register.

For those who missed signing it on 09 June, the register will be made available in the Research Room of the National Archives in Colombo.The declaration was launched in both Sinhala and Tamil and can be found on the website of the National Archives.

Director General National Archives, Dr Nadeera Rupesinghe, stressed that the National Archives requires the support of the public to protect the duty to record and the duty to archive. She said that the National Archives should be fully involved in the journey from public record to archive.Nalaka Gunawardene, Tanuja Thurairajah, and Nigel Nugawela addressed the audience in Sinhala, Tamil and English respectively.