<i>Important govt records land in waste paper shop</i>

A large number of government documents including those with historic importance have been recovered from a waste paper shop in the capital.
The recovery has prompted demands for a probe into how the documents weighing around 40kg, which must have been preserved by the ministries and government agencies concerned, landed in the shop.
Finally, the invaluable documents found their way into proper custody as those came to the notice of the National Archives authorities on Saturday, and they purchased those at Tk 16 a kg.
Some of the documents are related to assets, debts and liabilities of Bangladesh just after independence, and other vital matters, which have been marked as either confidential or secret.
The other documents include those concerning initiatives for separation of the judiciary in 1985, Enam Committee Report of 1982 on administrative reforms, papers relating to voter identity project of 1996 and Upazila Parishad Bill of 1998.
National Archives officials said different ministries including establishment and law and the cabinet division were custodians of these documents.
One of the archives officials first noticed these at the waste paper shop at Anandabazar adjacent to Shahidullah Hall of Dhaka University on Saturday. On information from him, the archives authorities contacted officials of the establishment and law ministries, who then rushed to the spot.
An official quoted the shop owner as saying vendors bring a huge quantity of such government documents to his shop every month for sale.
Law ministry officials took the Enam Committee report to their custody.
The documents on separation of the judiciary includes those signed by the then joint secretary of law ministry Abdul Kader Talukder. He put forward different recommendations in this regard and opinion of the cabinet division on law ministry's proposals.
A document of 1970 shows it was sent to the then deputy secretary Fakhruddin Ahmed (chief adviser of the immediate past caretaker government) of the establishment ministry.
Besides, a document of 1992 shows that the then deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank Mahbubur Rahman Khan informed the then additional secretary of the finance ministry Akbar Ali Khan about formation of the bank's investigation cell.
Section 9 of the National Archives Ordinance 1983 clearly bans sale of such documents. It says any documents aged over 25 years will get place at the National Archives. As per Bangladesh Secretariat directive 1976 -- documents of the government ministries will be preserved at the storehouse of establishment ministry if those have no office use. After 25 years those have to be handed over to the National Archives.
A top official of the archives, seeking anonymity, said a group of officials and employees of the establishment ministry might have sold out these documents.