? r f t i ^ r < t % 3 ? c R S T f a e T— ( i ) .

(1) The records officer shall be responsible for— (a) proper arrangement, maintenance and preservation of public records under his charge; (b) periodical review of all public records and weeding out public records of ephemeral value; (c) appraisal of public records which are more than twenty-five years old in consultation with the National Archives of India or, as the case may be, the Archives of the Union territory, with a view to retaining public records of permanent value; (d) destruction of public records in such manner and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed under sub-section (1) of section 8; (e) compilation of a schedule of retention for public records in consultation with the National Archives of India or, as the case may be, the Archives of the Union territory; (f) periodical review for downgrading of classified public records in such manner as may be prescribed; (g) adoption of such standards, procedures and techniques as may be recommended from time to time by the National Archives of India for improvement of record management system and maintenance of security of public records; (h) compilation of annual indices of public records; (i) compilation of organisational history and annual supplement thereto; (j) assisting the National Archives of India or, as the case may be, the Archives of the Union territory for public records management; (k) submission of annual report to the Director General or, as the case may be, head of the Archives in such manner as may be prescribed; (l) transferring of records of any defunct body to the National Archives of India or the Archives of the Union territory, as the case may be, for preservation. (2) The records officer shall act under the direction of the Director General or, as the case may be, head of the Archives while discharging the responsibilities specified in sub-section (1).