Bhubaneswar: Leader of Opposition (LoP) Pradipta Kumar Naik on Tuesday wrote a letter to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik while urging him to take appropriate steps for usage of Odia language in all State Assembly proceedings.
Naik alleged that the use of the local language in administrative and judicial works was only confined to the papers as most of the letters in the Assembly and Lok Seva Bhawan are written in English. Many judicial reports, departmental budgets, commission’s reports and ordinances are not written in Odia language, he added.
“I would like to draw your attention that you read out your statements in the Assembly in English which is very unfortunate. Some ministers and MLAs are also seen using English language. It is having an adverse impact on the Odia people,” the LoP told the CM in the letter.
He further said High Court and other courts in Odisha continued to use English as their main language. Citing that high courts in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar have adopted Hindi as an additional language apart from English to carry out the judicial works, he demanded that the Odisha government should take similar measures to introduce Odia as an additional language in the Orissa High Court.
“On November 4, 2011, the name of the State was changed from Orissa to Odisha and the name of its language from Oriya to Odia. However, the State’s name still remained unchanged in the signage of the Orissa High Court,” the LoP pointed out.
“As the government works, Assembly and judicial proceedings need to be people-friendly, usage of Odia language is highly essential. But it is unfortunate that the State government is not paying heed to the issue,” he said.
“Therefore, I request you to consider the larger interest of the Odisha people and take immediate steps for usage of Odia language in government works, Assembly proceeding and judicial proceedings,” Naik added.
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