OPENING OF FILES

CASE
Case means a particular matter under consideration and includes all
papers relating to it and required to enable the matter to be disposed of,
viz., correspondence and notes, and also any previous paper on the
subject or subjects covered by it or connected with it.
FILE
File means a collection of official papers/documents relating to one
particular subject or one particular aspect of a subject arranged in
chronological order.

PARTS OF A FILE
A file consists of the following portions:

 Notes portion
 Correspondence portion
 Routine portion
 Summary (in complicated and protracted cases)

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NOTES PORTION
The Notes portion of a file contains all notes in respect of each receipt or
a particular matter under consideration whether in the Branch/Section or
by higher officer(s) or by the administrative Division or other Divisions of
the Government or Departments/offices to whom file may have been
referred under a u.o.note. Each paragraph of the note portion should be
given continuous number. All the communications placed in the
‘correspondence’ portion of the file should be docketed in the ‘Notes’
portion at appropriate places.

CORRESPONDENCE PORTION
The correspondence portion contains all the communications received or
issued on a particular subject of a file. Communications are serially
arranged in chronological order, the earliest being on the top.

ROUTINE PORTION
It contains papers of ordinary/ephemeral nature such as duplicate/spare
copies of rules/regulations/reminders/drafts etc. approved by the higher
authority.
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SUMMARY (IN COMPLICATED AND
PROTRACTED CASES)
In lengthy and protracted cases, the concerned officer prepares
a summary of the case for the convenience of senior officers or
other Ministries/Divisions etc. This summary is placed in the
summary folder and spare copies are placed in the folder
which may be taken by the other Divisions/Departments to
whom case is referred.

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PART FILE
• The opening of a part file should be avoided as far
as possible. A part file may, however be opened
when the main file is not likely to be available for some time
and action cannot be held up in the meanwhile. When more
than one part file is opened each of them should be given a
distinct number, e.g., “F.1-2/60 (Part File-I)-Admn”
“F.1-2/60(Part File- II)- Admn.” etc.
  
• The part file or files should be amalgamated with the
main file as soon as the latter becomes available.
When a part file is amalgamated with the main file, the
chronological order of notes and correspondence should be
preserved as far as possible.

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VOLUME OF A FILE
One file cover/folder should not
contain more than 100 pages of
‘Correspondence’ or ‘Notes’. A new
volume of a file should be opened
after every 100 pages of
‘Correspondence’ or ‘Notes’. The
page numbering should be
continuous in the ‘Notes’ as well as in
the ‘Correspondence’.
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LINKED FILE

A current file put up with another current file. Linking of

files on which action is in progress should, as far as possible,
be avoided. As a general rule this practice should be resorted
to only when the files are inter-connected and orders have to
be passed on them simultaneously. If a reference has to be
made to papers in another current file, relevant extracts
should be taken if the matter involved is not too lengthy.

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ROUTINE FILE

When it is desired to examine the proposal of another

office without showing that office such examination, a
‘routine’ file may be opened. This procedure should be
adopted especially if the proposal is likely to be
criticized severely. The routine file shall not be sent out
to another office without special orders of the
competent authority for treating it as a part of the
regular file.

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ROUTINE PAPERS
Papers of ephemeral nature which are not to
form either of Notes or Correspondence.

DOCKETING
Docketing is the process of indicating in the
‘Notes’ portion of a file the page number of
each Receipt or Issue OR pp.4-6/C-Receipt or
Issues, as the case may be.

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 FILE REGISTER

File register means the register which contains a

classified list of subject headings dealt within a
Branch/Section according to which files are
numbered.

Each Branch/Section shall maintain a File

Register. A List of file headings should be pasted
on the opening pages of the file register, which
shall have the following columns:-
 Year…………………………………..
 Number of Main Head………………
 No. of Sub-Head…………………….
 Section……………………………… 9
 SPECIMEN OF FILE REGISTER
NUMBER OF
MAIN HEADING____________________
____________________

FILE REGISTER
YEAR_________________________________
MAIN HEADING_______________________
_______________________
Serial No.-------------------------- MOVEMENT
File No.-----------------------------
Subject-----------------------------
------------------------------
Date of Recording-----------------
Category ---------------------------
Classification-----------------------

Serial No.-------------------------- MOVEMENT

File No.-----------------------------
Subject-----------------------------
------------------------------
Date of Recording-----------------
Category ---------------------------
Classification-----------------------

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 NUMBER AND SUBJECT OF A FILE
• All new files should be given a file number by the Assistant in
consultation with the Officer Incharge. The file number shall be
allotted to each file according to the file headings maintained by the
section for the subjects dealt in it. For example, if an Administration
Section in a Ministry/Department/Organization has:-

“Leave and transfer”

“Recruitment of Staff”
“Purchase of furniture and stationery”

• The serial number of files should run from 1st January to 31st
December each year. A new series should be started each year but the
main file heading allotted to particular subjects should as far as
possible be retained.

• The file number allotted to a receipt of file should be noted in column

6 of the Diary Register

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• Both the Assistant and Stenotypist
attached to an Officer shall be jointly
responsible for the custody of the files of the
Section.
• No file should be opened unnecessarily.
The opening of a part file should also be
avoided as far as possible.
• The part file or files should be
amalgamated with the main file as soon as
the latter becomes available. When a part
file is amalgamated with the main file, the
chronological order of notes and
correspondence should be preserved as far
as possible.
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