The Union ministry of communications has directed all telecom operators in Sikkim to include Nepali in all telecom-related communications.

These include pre-recorded messages, SMS and call centre support.

The directive issued by the licensing policy division of the department of telecommunication under the Union ministry of communication states that the directive needs to be implemented within 30 days of the letter getting issued.

The memo, dated September 2, reads: “….it has been decided that all the licenses operating in the State shall henceforth include Nepali language in all telecom-related communications, including IVRS messages, SMS, and call centre support etc.”

The order states that the directive is meant to ensure effective communication and improve user experience for telecom subscribers in Sikkim.

Last year, the Sikkim government issued a notification stating that all official notifications and gazettes shall henceforth be published in Nepali along with English in the state.

The notification issued by V.B. Pathak, the chief secretary of Sikkim, coincided with Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay)’s promise to implement measures to strengthen the use of Nepali language.

Even though the Nepali was recognised as an official language of the country in 1992, many believe it is not being properly promoted.

On this side of the Teesta, Bengal’s Darjeeling leader Anit Thapa, the chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), also announced that all notifications of the GTA would be issued in Nepali, soon after Golay’s move.

Thapa’s party, the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), has also requested all business establishments in the region under the GTA to write signages in Nepali. However, many are yet to do so.

Language is a sensitive issue in the region. The Bengal government’s suggestion of Bengali as a compulsory language in all schools across the state triggered the Gorkhaland agitation in 2017 with the hills remaining closed for 104-days at a stretch.

The road to the recognition of Nepali as a language of the Indian Gorkhas has been a long one. It gathered steam from 1956.

Two Prime Ministers, Indira Gandhi and Moraji Desai, had to face public protest during their visits in Darjeeling when they failed to provide assurance to recognise
the language.

Finally, Nepali was recognised in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution on August 20, 1992.