STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION BY THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
25. A report on the status of implementation of the recommendations of the Gujral Committee by the Ministries and Departments of the Central Government is attached as Annexure VII. The observations of the Committee on the status of implementation are as under:
(i) the Gujral Committee made recommendation (5.175) that the Central Government should discuss the matter of the use of Urdu by the Legislatures and the publication of agenda papers etc. with the Chief Ministers and Speakers of the various State Legislatures and formulate acceptable guidelines. We find that only in Andhra Pradesh the Bills are introduced in Urdu and Urdu speeches are also recorded in Urdu. However, the Central Government has not conducted any dialogue or discussion and has not formulated uniform guidelines;
(ii) the Gujral Committee's recommendation (5.179) regarding printing of electoral rolls in urdu where Urdu speaking population is 10% and above, is not being implemented in any State except Maharashtra and Delhi;
(iii) according to a Resolution of the Parliament in December, 1967, the Union Public Service Commission has allowed the use of any language included in the 8th Schedule and English as a medium for answering papers in general knowledge and essay. Two years later, it
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included an optional paper on any one of the 15 languages. However, the recommendation of the Gujral Committee that this facility should be extended to the concerned State Public Service Commissions also has not been implemented so far;
(iv) with regard to Post and Telegraph Department, the Gujral Committee recommended (5.186 to 5.188) that it should print the various forms, including Money Orders forms, in Urdu, in substantially large quantities, to meet the demand from Urdu speakers all over the country) in areas with an Urdu speaking population of 10% and above. The Committee finds that this recommendation has also not been implemented;
(v) the Gujral Committee recommended (5.189) that important notices and circulars of the Post and Telegraph Department should, in accordance with the norms suggested by the Committee, be published in Urdu in areas where Urdu speaking population is substantial. Even this has gone by default. The sign-boards of the Post and Telegraph Department are also not provided in Urdu anywhere except in some places in Andhra Pradesh;
(5.190)
(vi) with regard to the Railways, the Gujral Committee had recommended (5.195) that the names of the railway stations should be displayed in Urdu also in certain states specified by it. It also recommended (5.196) that if the stations from where the journey begins are
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in areas where Urdu happens to be second largest language after the regional language, the name of the station should be displayed in Urdu also. With regard to making available the Railway Time Table in Urdu, the Gujral Committee had recommended (5.192) that private individuals or organisations could print the Time Table in Urdu with the cooperation of the Railway Board. The Committee finds that the Time Table is not available in Urdu and that no effort has been made to involve the voluntary Organisation in the process;
(vii) education: Three Language Formula as enunciated in the 1968 Policy and reiterated in the 1986 Policy makes no mention of Urdu. The Formula recommended by the Gujral Committee (4.240 and 4.241) has not been implemented. The Constitutional guarantees given to the linguistic minorities, in this case, the Urdu-speaking linguistic minority, have also not been fulfilled. The Gujral Committee modifications of the 10:40 and 15:60 Formulae have also been disregarded;
(viii) the Gujral Committee's recommendations (4.370) that the Bureau for Promotion of Urdu should be suitably strengthened and assigned the task of coordinating and monitoring the work of the promotion and development of Urdu at the Centre and the States in the field of education, has remained un-implemented;
(ix) the Gujral Committee's recommendation that two Research Institutes, one in the South and another in the North should be established to promote higher research in
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Urdu literature and language with particular reference to allied, classical and modern Indian languages and dialects has been disregarded;
(x) the Gujral Committee's recommendation (4.368) that in view of the past role of the Jamia Millia Islamia and its potentialities for the future, financial assistance and other facilities should be provided to it for graduate and post-graduate studies through Urdu medium has not seen the light of the day;
(xi) the Gujral Committee's recommendation (5.77) regarding the translation of laws and regulations has not been implemented. The representative from the Ministry of Law, in his evidence, however, stated that till date 222 Central Acts have been translated into Urdu out of which 204 have been approved by the Working group of the Official Language Wing, Legislative Department, Ministry of Law. These Acts, however, have not yet been printed;
(xii) the Gujral Committee's recommendations regarding the media of Mass Communication with regard to the All India Radio have, by and large, been implemented particularly at the Centre;
(xiii) the Gujral Committee's recommendation (5.214) regarding appointment of Producers/Assistant Producers having knowledge of Urdu in areas where there is sizeable population of Urdu speakers, has not been implemented;
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(xiv) the Gujral Committee's recommendation (5.215) that while drawing up the Urdu programmes, the fact that Urdu speakers belong to different communities and regions, should be kept in mind, has not been implemented;
(xv) the Gujral Committee's recommendation (5.216) concerning the broadcasting of developmental features and national programmes in Urdu has been implemented partially. However, these programmes are neither broadcast from the National Channel nor from the regional stations;
(xvi) the Gujral Committee had recommended (5.217) that in the national programmes of plays and features, Urdu plays and features may be included on a more liberal scale. This recommendation has not been implemented;
(xvii) the Gujral Committee's recommendation (5.23) that the question of faulty pronounciation of Urdu words should be looked into has not been implemented;
(xviii) the Gujral Committee's recommendation (5.224) for starting Slow Speed News Bulletins has not been implemented.
(xix) the Gujral Committee's recommendation with regard to PIB have, by and large, been implemented. So far as DAVP is concerned, their performance has improved. However, with regard to advertisements to Urdu press, the DAVP still adheres to the circulation criteria and
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has ignored the Gujral Committee's recommendation that the criteria should be relaxed in favour of Urdu press. Regrading Publication Division (5.229), Gujral Committee noticed that the number of books brought out in Urdu comprise only a small proportion of the total number of books published by that Division.
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