The pulse polio posters. Picture by Suman Tamang

Darjeeling, Nov. 21: Literacy societies, student organisations and political parties today condemned the mistakes in pulse polio posters, written in Nepali, and threatened to begin a movement against what they termed was the government?s ?step-motherly? treatment of the language.

The posters, found plastered in several parts of the town requesting people to participate in the drive on Polio Sunday, describes in detail the children who should be administered the drop. But all through the poster, the only word spelt correctly is ?polio?. Common words like ?Sunday? and ?November? have been mis-spelt.

The issue of incorrect language usage has always been a sensitive one in the hills with social organisations protesting when a similar error crept in earlier. ?The administration had then promised us that such mistakes would not be repeated. But they have. We will take to the streets unless the government tenders an apology,? said Roshan Giri, the president of All Gorkha Students? Union.

The errors come at a time when the hill people have been complaining of ?step-motherly? treatment of the Nepali language despite the fact that it was recognised as an official language by the state government in the three hill divisions in the 60s. The language movement, which took place after the Gorkhaland agitation, had ended on a note of jubilation when Nepali was recognised as one of the Indian languages under Schedule VIII of the Constitution in 1992.

Residents maintained that in spite of the recognition, the government has not taken any initiative to enforce the language in the hills

Prem Pradhan, president of Nepali Sahitya Sammelan, said: ?We have decided to take up the matter with all authorities concerned.? Congress leader Lawrence P.T. Lama said: ?During the language movement, the government was not serious about our demand. Even now, after the recognition, the authorities are indifferent. ?

Sources said the errors were discussed at length during the pulse polio meeting held at Tourist Lodge last night. ?The problem is that the posters were printed in Calcutta. Ideally they should have been printed in Darjeeling,? said a district official.

Darjeeling district magistrate Aariz Aftab admitted the issue was discussed in yesterday?s meeting. ?We had initially decided not to use the posters, but it seems some of them had already been released. We will take up the matter with the authorities concerned,? said Aftab.