Question : INDIAN COUNCIL FOR HISTORICAL RESEARCH

(a) whether the Government has constituted a Review Committee to inquire into the affairs of ICHR;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether any report on the withdrawal of `Towards Freedom` Project has been submitted to the Government;

(d) if so, whether such a project of national importance was withdrawn, thereby humiliating scholars of repute in the country;

(e) if so, the reasons therefore;

(f) the present status of the project; and

(g) the action taken by the Council to retrieve the missing files of the project `Towards Freedom`?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT(SHRI M.A.A. FATMI)

(a) & (b): Yes, Sir. The Government has constituted a one- man Review Committee of Shri D. Bandyopadhyay, Executive Chairperson, Council for Social Development, New Delhi and the former Secretary to the Government of India to review the working of Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), New Delhi, to hold enquiry into the affairs thereof and to report thereon.

(c) to (e): The one-man Review Committee in its interim report on the `Towards Freedom` Project has stated that attempts were made to scuttle the project through stoppage of funds and interruption in the publication of the volumes.

(f): The Council has informed that the project has been revived.

(g): The Council has requested the Ministry of Human Resource Development to retrieve the file.