Indian Council of Historical Research

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The Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) is a captive body of the Ministry of Education, Government of India established by an Administrative Order. The body has provided financial assistance to historians and scholars through fellowships, grants, and symposia.

Contents

The ICHR receives grants-in-aid from the Department of Higher Education, grants-in-aid from various Indian states, private donations, and the proceeds of revenues from the sale of publications of the ICHR. The ICHR is based in Delhi, with regional centres in Pune (Maharashtra), Bengaluru (Karnataka), and Guwahati (Assam).

Founded:27 March 1972

Its first chairman was the historian Ram Sharan Sharma nominated as its first chairman. [1] Historians who have served as members or functionaries of the ICHR include Irfan Habib, Tapan Raychaudhuri, and Barun De.

Objectives

The objectives of the ICHR, as enunciated in the initial pamphlet published by the Department of Education, Government of India in 1972,[ full citation needed ] are as under:

Funding, expenses and salaries

ICHR is funded by grants-in-aid received from the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development. It also receives funds from the various state governments of India and from other Ministries of the government of India.

Organization

The ICHR is headed by an Honorary Chairman. The Member Secretary functions as the Secretary of the Governing Council during its General Body and special meetings and as the day-to-day Head of the Department in ICHR.

The Members of the Council of ICHR (Governing Body) are nominated for a period of three years. The Chairman of the Council of ICHR is nominated by the Department of Education in an honorary capacity and his term is not co-terminus with that of the members of the Constituted Council. The day-to-day functioning of the ICHR is looked after by the Director who acts as ex officio Member Secretary of the Council. In 1991, a trend was started to have a separate post of Member Secretary of the ICHR, with Professor MGS Narayanan being selected as the First Member Secretary of ICHR. The institution has been continually embroiled in intra-rivalries between the Chairmen, Member Secretaries, and the Directors, at the cost of historical research. The main reason, as per many, has been the deputing of persons from here and there as the Member Secretaries and the undermining the office of the Chairman and the Director of the institution.

Chairmen

Member Secretary

Directors

Composition of the Council

The ICHR Council consists of the following members:

Publications

The ICHR publishes online as well as on print media. It publishes two journals: the Indian Historical Review (bi-annually) and Itihas (in Hindi). It also provides publication subsidies to seminars, books, congress proceedings, and journals. The editing and publication has been outsourced to certain publishing houses.

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References

  1. "The man who made history". The Times of India. 22 August 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2020.