RTI finds Centre has no record of Ashoka events

Times of India: Agra: Monday, December 28, 2015.

While Bihar may have recently discovered April 14 as the exact date of birth of the great Mauryan king, over 22 centuries after he died, Centre doesn't even seem to have a list of holidays and functions being held officially in the name of the king whose lion capital is the emblem of the country. An RTI query made to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) recently, which was later forwarded to ministry of culture and DoPT too, has failed to elicit a satisfactory answer.

Local RTI activist Arvind Sutail who made the query to the PMO told TOI, "It is astonishing that the central government has no information about such a significant historical figure and never thought about looking for it. Ashoka was no ordinary ruler. He was one of the greatest kings the world has seen. He holds a lot of importance for Indian society and his legacy must pass on to the next generations. Authorities must work for dispersal of his ideology."

After PMO received Sutail's letter, dated September 4, it was forwarded to ministry of culture and department of personnel and training. Subsequently, a joint secretary informed him of the unavailability of any record with the culture ministry and asked him to contact information officers with home, public grievance and pension ministries instead. Later, when Sutail wrote letters to all the above-mentioned ministries, he was told by Anuj Sharma, director of home ministry and central public information officer, that the information was unavailable with the home ministry too.

Sutail also sought the same information from state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Delhi and other states, none of which have responded as of yet. The great Mauryan king was recently in news when the Bihar government announced April 14 as his date of birth and declared it as an official holiday. The decision came in sharp criticism from historians who said the king's epigraphs, the only written version of events in his lifetime, do not mention either his date of birth or his year of birth.