PRAYAGRAJ, Nov. 2 -- Employees of the Prayagraj Municipal Corporation (PMC) may soon be relieved of the cumbersome task of searching through sacks and cloth bundles for old records, as the civic body plans to modernize its record room at an estimated cost of Rs 40 lakh. Spread over about 1,130 square feet, the upgraded facility will be designed for secure preservation and systematic storage of documents, enabling officials to access records dating back nearly 50 years within minutes. Documents such as birth and death certificates, property tax records, nazul land files and building-related records are frequently required for certificate corrections, property disputes and various administrative procedures. However, the lack of a proper filing system often makes locating these documents a lengthy and challenging process. Under the proposed plan, the Municipal Corporation will install specialised storage racks and shelving units. Separate sections will be created for birth and death records, while dedicated spaces will be earmarked for building-related documents and other important files. Officials believe the categorised storage system will improve record management, enhance document security and significantly reduce retrieval time. According to Mani Shanker Tripathi, IT manager at Prayagraj Smart City Limited (PSCL), the digitisation of records related to house tax, water tax, birth and death certificates and nazul land will make it much easier to retrieve documents that are 50 to 60 years old. "Records from 2005 onwards have largely been digitised, though the process remains incomplete as documents stored in zonal offices are yet to be scanned. The restoration of records from the 1960s and 1970s onwards is particularly challenging because the paper has deteriorated considerably over time," Tripathi said. As per him, the project will involve scanning and digitising an estimated 3 to 4 crore records created before 2005. Given the scale of the exercise and the condition of older documents, the digitisation process is expected to take more than two years to complete. "Once completed, the initiative will streamline record management, improve public service delivery and ensure long-term preservation of the Municipal Corporation's archival documents," he added....