Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik (File)
While welcoming the Odisha Official Language (Amendment) Bill, passed by the Assembly on Tuesday, opposition parties and proponents of the proposed law on Wednesday asked the government why it does not specify the exact penalty for violation by government officials.
The Bill proposed punishment for government officers for failure to conduct official business in Odiya.
The House also passed the Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Bill, 2018, which makes Odiya mandatory on signboards of commercial establishments such as shops and restaurants.
Leader of Opposition Narsingh Mishra of the Congress said, “We welcome the amendments. But does it mean that the Chief Minister violates the law if he does not make file notings in Odiya?”
The BJP state unit said it is doubtful what the Bill can accomplish since the penalty is not defined. Baisnab Parida, former Rajya Sabha MP from BJD and Odisha Bhasa Suraksha Sammilani chief, said the penalty has not been defined because bureaucrats have put “fear” in the CM’s mind that the Act will include him.
Parida, who has championed both amendment Bills since 2013, has previously criticised Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s limited knowledge of the Odiya language. “Our Sammilani has demanded statutory powers for the Odiya Language Commission, which will then monitor violations of these laws, as is done in Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh. But the Commission has been deliberately kept toothless,” Parida said.
Terming Parida’s allegations on the CM’s apprehensions “mala fide”, BJD spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Pratap Keshari Deb said, “The Odiya Language Commission has enough powers to enforce the Acts”.
Several Odisha-cadre bureaucrats whose first language is not Odiya, however, expressed apprehension that once enacted, these laws will be used to “harass” them. “All official notices, meant for the public, are anyway translated into Odiya,” a top official said.