Bhubaneswar: Owners of shops and other commercial establishments in the city have volunteered to change the signboards to give place of prominence to Odia by October 15.
Development commissioner R. Balakrishnan on Saturday chaired a meeting at BMC Corporation Hall with representatives of all types of commercial establishments and educational institutions in order to expedite the use of Odia language by them.
Use of the mother tongue is, in a way, the best tribute to one's culture and tradition and the most beautiful way to preserve self respect by relating to one's own linguistic origin, several representatives of the commercial establishments said during the meeting. Odisha, being the first state to be formed on the basis of linguistic consideration, the time has come to write their signage prominently in Odia, besides other languages, they said.
Speaking about the pride of using the mother tongue by local people, Balakrishnan also stressed on the use of Odia language in all its aspects and ventures through the entire Smart City Mission. "We have achieved the smart city tag through a competition. Now, by using our own language, we can be the smartest city,'' he said.
Odia became the sixth language in India to get classical status following approval of the Union cabinet in February 2014.
Balakrishnan also cited examples of advanced nations such as Japan, Korea and China that have given importance to their local languages than foreign ones.
Labour department principal secretary Anu Garg said: "Now, the use of Odia language on signage would be on a voluntary basis. But after a certain deadline, enforcement might be imposed on violators to adhere to a uniform code of conduct. A website would also be put in place through which citizens can post their photos to cite violators.''
Higher education secretary Bishnupada Sethi, sports and tourism secretary Vishal Dev, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation commissioner Krishan Kumar, additional commissioner Subham Saxena and municipal administration director Sangramjit Nayak and other senior government officials from various departments, academics and industry leaders were present at the meeting.
The civic body will coordinate the activity among commercial establishments and shops within it limits according to provisions of the Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2018.
Most participants expressed their willingness to display the signage in Odia near their establishments. Representatives from KIIT University, Centurion University, Siksha 'O' Anusandhan (Deemed to be University), the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Odisha and different traders' and markets' bodies of the city were present at the meeting.
Odia Bhasa Pratisthan director Tamasarani Dasmohapatra came forward with a proposal to create a dictionary of administrative words in Odia to help citizens use the correct words on their signage.
After October 15, there would be another meeting to assess the progress.
