Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday announced the implementation of the Orissa Official Languages Act, 1954, which will pave the way for using Odia in office works, by August 15.  The Act had come into existence during the tenure of chief minister Nabakrushna Choudhury. However, lack of political will had allegedly prevented its implementation for so long. Naveen’s announcement is expected to fulfil one of the long-standing demands of the people of the state.  
The Telegraph speaks to citizens after the landmark announcement by Naveen:

The decision may help senior government officials. But, it will be difficult for young professionals joining the service. There are no regional boundaries these days and people from all states apply for jobs. Although the candidates may clear 
the mandatory test, it may still be difficult for them to write all the documents in Odia. It will become all the more difficult if they are also asked to use Odia on computers. I think it shows a primitive mentality if they force it on everybody and make it compulsory. 

Leena Turuk, nurse

It is a wonderful move for the first Indian state to be formed on linguistic basis (in 1936). It will promote Odia language and the state's rich cultural heritage. It is good to know that the state government is creating Odia chairs in universities, such as Jawaharlal Nehru University and Banaras Hindu University. Also, the proposed University of Odia Language and 
Literature makes me proud as an Odia. 

Sulagna Mohanty, teacher 

It is a praiseworthy decision by the state government and it will promote transparency in governance and increase active participation of common people. It is also an important step to make all documents available in simple Odia or else it will create another problem and one will have to struggle to find an official language dictionary. Further attention should be given to ensure compulsory Odia teaching in schools. The government should focus on creating and promoting a familiar 
Odia font such as Unicode. 

N. A. Ansari, development professional

Odia had received the classical language status in 2014. But since then, nothing much was done to promote its use. A 
number of organisations have campaigned for the use of Odia language and the government should tie-up with them to make the integration faster. There is also an urgent need to focus on translating popular Odia works and making it public so that non-Odia people can read them.

Smita Dash, PR professional

The use of Odia language online is increasing but that is on a personal level. There is need to promote use of Unicode in Odia at all government levels, such as websites, circulars and other publications to increase accessibility. Using technology to make sure that its presence increases online is very important. However, Odia content is still lacking on the web. 

Subhashish Panigrahi, Odia Wikipedia contributor

I hope the government sticks to the deadline and successfully implements Odia language for official purposes by August 15. This was long overdue. This will create a strong bond and inspire the common man to promote its use. There is also an urgent need to conduct research in linguistics and grammar. 

Subrat Dash, photographer