New Delhi, March 11: Minister of State for Culture and Tourism Mahesh Sharma on Wednesday highlighted the importance of archives for a tion and said these age-old records help in preserving traces of history for future generations. “History is very important for a country because it has the potential to contribute to tion building. It is due to this reason that we must make the valuable age-old records, available with us, transparent and accessible to the people,” said Sharma. “These archives and records contain a wealth of knowledge and through them we can take the cultural heritage of the country to the people,” he added. Sharma was speaking at the iuguration of the year-long celebrations of the 125th anniversary of tiol Archives of India (I) here. He also highlighted the importance of digitisation for the preservation of these records. (IANS)