In a recent decision, the Ministry of Home Affairs has decided “not to entertain” any fresh claims or applications from freedom fighters or their families from this year.

The reason — the number of complaints the ministry has been receiving regarding the misuse of benefits set aside for freedom fighters.

The decision follows a direction issued by the Chief Information Commissioner, reported earlier by Newsline, asking the Ministry to formulate a “comprehensive list” which should be continually updated on its website.

The ministry is, therefore, in the process of digitising all its records regarding freedom fighters and martyrs. Senior ministry officials say the freedom fighters and martyrs will be detailed as two separate categories.

The database will be created over the next six months, said the Minister of State for Home, Ajay Maken. As more than 60 years have passed since Independence, it has become difficult to authenticate freedom fighters. “We have been receiving complaints of the misuse of benefits — and since we do not have a database, there is no way for us to authenticate claims,” Maken said.

The Home Ministry has already approached HRD Minister Kapil Sibal to help them create a database of freedom fighters . The work is to be undertaken by the Indian Council of Historical Research, which comes under the HRD Ministry.

“Apart from creating a database for the Home Ministry, the ICHR will also publish a ‘Who’s Who of Freedom Fighters’ — which will be a permanent record,” added Maken.

... contd.