Institutional memory is not a
priority: Experts
Kathmandu, July 27
When India unilaterally published
its map including Nepali territory in Kalapani region (about 370 square km) in
2019, Nepal reacted strongly and published its map incorporating the region.
Then began the process to reclaim
the land encroached by India. But the government-formed task force and
independent experts had to struggle hard to find historical documents, past
agreements and correspondences.
Cultural expert and historian
Professor Ramesh Dhungel, and Cartographer and former Director General of the
Survey Department of Nepal, Buddhi Narayan Shrestha, members of the
government-formed task force to collect the evidence related to the area, found
that the missions of Nepal in London of the United Kingdom and Beijing of China
did not have the vital historical documents. There was no system for the
institutionalisation and archive of reports, talks and correspondences.
"Failure in the
digitalisation of the reports, documents and correspondence at the Nepali
missions abroad has created problems from time to time," Prof. Dhungel
said.
Hiranya Lal Shrestha, former
Ambassador of Nepal to Russia, published 'Sixty Years of Dynamic Partnership',
a book on the bilateral relations between Nepal and China, in 2016. Aware of
the dearth of knowledge and documents at the Nepali missions and, even the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Shrestha has created a large archive of
documents at his personal initiative. He is converting this collection into a
library.
For Nepali embassies and missions
abroad, creation, management and digitalisation of information is not a
priority. According to the diplomats and former ambassadors, for many of them
it's not even a job.
Nepal has embassies in 30
countries, permanent missions to the United Nations in New York, Geneva and
Vienna, and consulate generals in seven cities of four countries – India,
China, the United States of America and Saudi Arabia. But none of them have information
archival system. However, in case of the UN, all the documents are available in
digital format.
The lack of document becomes
evident when the country or scholars need the historical facts or information
to prove or straighten them. But the embassies don't have them. The Embassy of
Nepal in London, which was the first Nepali diplomatic mission (established in
1934) in any foreign country, lacks the critical historical documents and
correspondence.
As a result, researchers, even
the government, have to resort to the British Library or India House Library to
find what they need.
Prof. Dhungel said that his team
couldn't obtain the report of the previous commission. He wonders at the
negligence of the government in maintaining institutional knowledge and not
learning from the past mistakes.
A critical sector
Former Foreign Secretary and
Ambassador, Madhu Raman Acharya, said that Nepal couldn't pay much attention to
the preservation of the documents including the correspondence. "If the
missions haven't maintained the archival system of their documents they should
maintain an access to the institutions that possess them," he said.
However, there are also concerns relating
to the safety of the historical and critical documents. Acharya maintained that
since the documents or information related to the bilateral agreements and
correspondence is considered 'sensitive', missions can be conservative about
sharing them with the third party.
Embassies also hesitate or deny
providing the documents due to the lack of the policy to classify or declassify
the documents. This policy facilitates the missions in making decisions about
making any document public or maintaining their secrecy.
No progress in digitalisation
According to the MoFA, none of
the missions abroad has started the digitalisation process. Recently, a
researcher couldn't find a historical document related to Nepal-China
cooperation at the Embassy of Nepal in Beijing and had to approach Chinese
institutions to obtain it.
Digital technology has made document
archival easier, reliable and economic. A single hard disk can store a large
amount of data and documents. However, the missions have not even taken good
care of traditional filing and archiving of the documents.
Cartographer Shrestha couldn't
find the required documents in the embassies in New Delhi, Beijing, London and even
Washington DC. These are the missions of high strategic importance along with
the permanent missions to the United Nations.
"I haven't found any
progress in creating an effective document archive or digitalisation of
historical evidences at the embassies. It has not been accorded priority from
anyone," said Shrestha.
Joint Secretary and Spokesperson
of the MoFA, Amrit Bahadur Rai, said that this area in foreign affairs has got
the least attention of the government. "There is a general understanding
about the need to move beyond the traditional method of filing and management
but progress in making reforms is rather slow," he said.
Lack of resources
Nepali missions in foreign
countries are underfunded which has its repercussions on the management of
knowledge. The MoFA has to struggle to obtain the necessary financial resources
from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) which has been rather conservative in
allocating enough budget to conduct economic diplomacy, promote trade and
tourism in foreign markets and create infrastructure and experts for the
digitalisation of documents.
Former ambassadors as well as the
current senior officials of the MoFA said that the budget allocated for the
Ministry and missions is barely enough to meet the general administrative
works.
Experts suggested that the MoFA
should collaborate with the National Archives and Tribhuvan University Library,
and mobilise the Institute of Foreign Affairs to develop skills in archive and
digital system.
'Documentation Unit' in pipeline
According to Spokesperson of the
MoFA, Rai, it is 'shameful' to be unable to find major historical documents. It
is the duty of the government, MoFA and Nepali missions abroad.
Meanwhile, the MoFA is planning
to create a dedicated 'Documentation Unit' at the ministry. "The Ministry
is formulating a new O&M (Organisation and Management) in which the
documentation unit is proposed under the general administration," Rai
said.
Cartographer Shrestha suggested
that along with the documents, reports and correspondences, the embassies
should also maintain a library of books written on their respective area or
region by any Nepali or foreign writers.
He said that it's not only the lack of resources that is hindering the
information archival but also the lack of knowledge and vision in the diplomats
and leaders.
"It is disappointing not to
find even the basic documents on bilateral correspondence at the
embassies," said Professor Dhungel, "The same person who went through
multiple hardships in documentation when he was officer at a mission didn't do
anything to facilitate it when he became the secretary."
Culture of complacency
Former Ambassador Acharya said
that there is lack of accountability, practice and realisation in creating
records, maintaining archives and digitalising them.
"The entire system has long
been plagued by a culture of complacency," he said. "It has been
observed that neither the political leadership asks for the past correspondence
or 'records of talks or discussions' nor the missions prepare and provide it to
the leaders."
The government should pay heed to
preserve the documents that have high 'utility value'. Other countries maintain
the records of every bilateral or multilateral talks or discussions so that they
could be used in the future negotiations or dialogue.
Acharya said that missions of
other nations keep the records of negotiations and explanations of bilateral
and multilateral treaties. These documents could be critical for future
negotiations.
However, because of high
sensitivity, classified documents or treaties should be kept by the government
or the MoFA.
Former Ambassador Shrestha had
established a library at the Embassy of Nepal in Moscow. "This should be
replicated in all Nepali missions worldwide," he said. "Failure to
create an institutional memory and maintain authentic chronological record of
activities and correspondence is 'unfortunate'. The MoFA should take immediate
steps to rectify it."
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 July 2024.
