Precious Punjabi works of language department to be digitised: Pargat Singh

PATIALA: Punjab minister for higher education Pargat Singh on Monday flagged off a special month-long awareness campaign to promote Punjabi language as a mother tongue in the state, at the Bhasha Bhawan in Patiala to mark Punjab Day.
The campaign has been launched under the state government’s ‘Punjabi Mah-2021’ campaign. Pargat also announced that precious works with the Punjab language department would be digitised through latest technology.
The department would be bolstered by filling up vacancies of district language officers, research officers and other staff. Expressing concern over slumping interest in the language among youth, education, sports and NRIs minister Pargat said he had examined the details of 1,000 candidates of Punjab Civil Service, of which merely 100 opted for Punjabi subject and only 10 managed to clear it in the examination.
Stressing on the need to work together and take initiatives to uplift Punjabi language, he appealed to Punjabi writers, intellectuals and media to promote rich Punjabi culture, literature, and characteristics of Punjabi language among pupils at school level.
Pargat said, “Punjabi is our mother tongue and it does not belong to any one person; therefore, it is indispensable for everyone to take initiatives to promote it. I am a team player and will work with intellectuals and writers as a team to safeguard Punjabi culture.”
Krishan Kumar, secretary of the department of higher education and languages said the Punjab government had been cautiously working to manage the treasury of the language department and fruitful results would soon be delivered. Punjabi University vice chancellor Professor Arvind presided over the event.
During the function, Pargat Singh also presented 9 awards for the category of best literary book of the year 2017. He launched departmental books, including Prem Prakash Singh’s Guru Nanak and Nirgun Dhara, Jagjivan Mohan Walia’s Baba Ala Singh, T R Sharma’s Guru Nanak Katha, Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha’s Gur Shabad Alankar, and Kulwinder Singh’s survey book Bahir Jachh among many others.