Kolkata: On the first day of the extended Budget Session, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced in the Assembly that from September 1, the use of Bengali as the official language will be obligatory in the operations of every government department in West Bengal.
Addressing the House, the Chief Minister informed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who came to the state for a three-day visit last week, had written a letter to the Chief Minister suggesting further use of the language in government departments.
After reading the letter on the floor of the House on Monday, the Chief Minister said that following the suggestion of the Union Home Minister, Bengali as an official language in the functioning of different state government departments has been made mandatory.
According to him, the state government needs some time to prepare the process, and hence, will start from September 1. Bengali will be introduced in all official letters, notifications and even in Police Station communications, he added.
“It will take the next one and a half months to properly translate everything that is needed to make the work easier. The government will do that work,” the Chief Minister said.
On Sunday, at a function in Kolkata in the presence of the Union Home Minister, the Chief Minister informed that HM Shah had written a letter to him suggesting measures to spread the use of Bengali.
However, on Sunday, CM Adhikari refused to spell out the contents of the letter, saying he would first inform the House about its contents on Monday. Going by his promise, as the session started at 11 a.m. on Monday, the first thing the Chief Minister did was read out the letter.
Thereafter, he said the decision to make Bengali mandatory in the functioning of every government department in West Bengal from September 1 has been taken following the suggestion of the Union Home Minister.
(IANS)
