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Urdu gets official status in West Bengal

By News Desk
Updated Saturday, 04 February 2012 14:02:31 - IST (UTC +5:30)

KOLKATA: The West Bengal government on Friday accorded second official language status to Urdu, especially in those areas where over 10 per cent of population speak the language.
It approved a proposal for the use of Urdu in government offices and educational institutions in areas where more than 10 per cent of the population speak the language.
With this decision the state will set up Urdu-medium primary schools in the selected areas and also introduce Urdu sections in secondary schools and colleges. Replies to official letters in Urdu will be in the same language. Urdu can be used in all official documents. Officials with expertise in the language will be appointed in the blocks and municipalities where the decision will be implemented
Second-language status for Urdu was part of Mamata Banerjee’s manifesto for the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.
The areas under the Calcutta Municipal Corporation and the municipalities in Islampur in North Dinajpur, Garulia, Kamarhati, Bhatpara and Titagarh in North 24-Parganas and Chapdani, Bansberia, Rishra and Bhadreshwar in Hooghly have been identified as the places where Urdu will be used as second language. Two blocks in North Dinajpur, Goalpokhor I and II, have also been selected.
After a Cabinet meeting, State's Commerce and Industries Minister Partha Chatterjee said this was for the first time in the state that Urdu language had been given official recognition as the second language.
State's Municipal Affairs Minister Fihad Hakim said the Cabinet decision fulfilled a longstanding demand by the Urdu-speaking people in the state.
“According to the 2001 Census, more than 10 per cent of the population in these areas speak Urdu. During today’s cabinet meeting, the chief minister added the areas under the Asansol Municipal Corporation and the municipalities of Bally (Howrah), Kulti and Jamuria (in Burdwan) to the list,” Partha Chatterjee said.
More areas will be added to the list after the 2012 Census report is released. “There are many borderline areas in the 2001 Census. In those places, the Urdu-speaking population must have exceeded 10 per cent in the past decade. Such areas will be gradually included,” said S. Nurul Haq, the minority affairs secretary. (Qaumi Awaaz)

Tags: News Desk West Bengal, Urdu, Second official language,

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