NEW DELHI: The fate of three ‘special research projects’ funded by the Indian Council of Historical Research ( ICHR ) and undertaken by prominent historians such as Irfan Habib Arjun Dev and the late Bipin Chandra, are likely to be decided at a committee meeting scheduled for November 1.It is learnt that the Council may either replace the historians undertaking the project or scrap them entirely. According to officials in the Council, an autonomous research funding body under the HRD ministry, the projects include ‘Towards Freedom’ project undertaken by late historian Bipin Chandra; the ‘Martyrs’ project’ which is a compilation of martyrs of the Indian Freedom struggle; and a dictionary of social, economic and administrative terms in India/South Asian inscriptions.“These projects have been running for long without any outcome so far and have been bleeding the Council’s money,” ICHR member-secretary Rajneesh Shukla told ET.“The ICHR and the projects have also long been the fiefdom of select ‘eminent’ historians who have often ignored regional history to suit their political leanings,” he said. The Council is looking at broadening the reach and scope of historical research by bringing in historians from different disciplines and regions.According to data with the ministry, nearly Rs 2.45 cr has been spent on the ‘Towards Freedom’ project on the 1942 ‘Quit India Movement’ and was sanctioned under historian Chandra known for his ‘Leftist’ leanings. According to a former Council member, the delay was caused because the project began only in 1989 and was discontinued during the NDA-I regime. It was revived during the UPA regime in 2005. Following Chandra’s death in 2014, only two volumes have been published so far.The Martyr’s dictionary, sanctioned in 2009, is yet to see the light of day. As per figures provided by MHRD, the Council has spent `1.5 cr and the last two volumes are yet to be published. Similarly, Council sources said, the dictionary of social, economic and administrative terms in India/South Asian inscriptions was undertaken by Habib and Shrimali and was sanctioned in I990. While the project has so far seen only one volume published, the ministry has spent `42 lakh so far.ICHR, however, is looking at funding projects that look at regional identities in ancient India. “We are looking at Kashmir’s Karkota dynasty which finds a mention in the Vedic text, Rajatarangini, and supports the one-nation theory as the kingdom extended to Kerala and Afghanistan.” The other project in the pipeline looks at Ahom dynasty.