OFFICIAL USE OF URDU
 

Ministry of Home Affairs issued a Press Note on July 14, 1958, in which the States were advised to take the following steps for the use of Urdu in administration.

Documents in Urdu should be accepted by all courts and offices without the necessity of translation of transliteration in any other language or script, and petitious and representations in Urdu should also be accepted.

Important laws, rules and regulations and notifications should be issued in Urdu language also in areas where this language is prevalent and which may be specified for this purpose.

Southern Zonal Council held at Ootacamund in May' 1959, considering the use of minority languages for official purpose recommended that:

"The State Reorganisation Commission has recommended that if there is a substantial minority Constituting 30 percent or more of the population of a State, the State should be recognised as bilingual for administrative purposes and that, if 70 percent or more of the total population of a District is constituted by a group which is minority in the State as a whole, the language of the minority group and not the State language should be official language in that

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district. In districts, municipal areas and smaller units where there are minorities constituting 15 to 20 percent of the population, Government Notices, Electoral Rolls etc. should be printed in both the languages and documents in minority languages should be permitted to be filed in courts. These recommendations were considered by the Committee which noted that there was no single minority group in any of the four States reconstituting more than 30 percent of the total population of the State or 70 percent or more of the population of a district. It observed that neither of the two safeguards contemplated by the State Reorganisation Commission (viz. declaring the State to be bilingual or declaring a language other than that of the majority as the official language of a district) had any application to any of the four states. As regards the suggestion of the Commission regarding recognition of minority languages for specific purposes in a district or a smaller area, it was decided that every municipal town and the non-municipal area of every taluk, should be treated as a separate local area for this purpose and that a list of such local areas where 20 percent of the people of Taluk or municipality spoke a language different from that of a majority language of the State should be prepared for each state. The following steps should be taken in respect of every local area included in the list thus prepared:

(i) all important Government notices and rules, Electoral Rolls etc. should be published in the minority language

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or languages;

(ii) forms etc. to be used in by the public should be printed both in the regional language and in the minority language;

(iii) facilities for registration of documents in the minority language should be permitted;

(iv) correspondence with Government offices in the minority language should be permitted;

(v) permission should be given to file documents in the minority languages in the courts in the area;

(vi) an endeavour should be made to secure in so far as this may be found practicable with due regard to administrative convenience that officers posted to work in such local areas are persons who possess adequate knowledge of the minority language."

Gujral Committee also made important recommendations regaring the use of Urdu for Official purposes. The recommendations are as follows:

"Another problem to which our attention was drawn pertains to the publication of notices in Devnagri script in Urdu papers. The witnesses pleaded that the publication of these notices in a language or script which the readers of that newspaper are not expected to know, defeated the very purpose of publication. It was pointed out that the language used in the notices was the same as was prevalent in pre-Independence days. If true, its transliteration into Urdu script at the time of sending it to the newspapers

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should not present any particular difficulty. As there is still a compliment of bilingual staff in the civil courts and collectorates, the rectification of the position should not present much difficulty. In any case, the text could be got rendered easily into Urdu script through authorised scribes. We recommend accordingly."

"The documents are sometimes filed by a party in his own language and the authorities insist that its authenticated translated copies should also be attached. The Committee has been informed that in some places translation facilities are not available and this causes a great deal of hardship to the parties. The Committee, therefore, recommends that adequate translation facilities should be made available against normal payment, particularly at district and lower levels. The Committee also at the same time feels that sometimes the party may be so poor as to find it hard to pay an additional sum for getting the documents translated. It will meet the ends of justice if in such cases the financial burden of translation is borne by the authorities and not by the party."

"Some of the States, particularly Uttar Pradesh and Haryana were issuing copies in Devnagri script, of the documents written in Urdu. Witnesses pointed out that such transliteration resulted in many errors of spelling and mispronounciation, sometimes making it difficult to place complete reliance on the copy, particularly for official and

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judicial purposes. Copies should be made available in the script in which the original is written. If necessary, outsiders may be engaged for copying against payment on job basis."

Andhra Pradesh

Applications and representations are not received in Urdu. Urdu translation of the Bills is provided, speeches delivered in the legislatures in the Urdu are recorded in Urdu.

The Gazette is also published in Urdu giving important notifications. And the demand is that the official Gazette should be in Urdu also just as it is in English and Telugu. Electoral Rolls are not provided in Urdu. Sign Boards are available in Urdu. But the Road Transport Corporation buses do not indicate the destination in Urdu except a few in Hyderabad City.

Ration cards, Electricity, and Water Works or Municipal Bills are not provided in Urdu. The G.O provides for registration of documents and use of Urdu in the Lower courts in Telanganna, Rayalseema and Guntur. It is difficult to assess the position as it obtains. Non- official sources indicated that this facility is not available in actual practice.

Bihar:

This Committee is happy to note that Bihar Government has appointed translators at all levels of administration.Urdu typewriters have also been purchased. 1000 translators have

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already been appointed and the interviews for another 800 such posts are to be held. Applications and representations in Urdu are entertained by the State Government offices and their replies are being sent in Urdu. Documents written in Urdu are accepted by the registration office. Government rules, regulations, and notifications are not published in Urdu. Government Orders and circulars are not issued in Urdu. Urdu translation of Bihar Gazette is not published. Road signs and name plates do not bear the names in Urdu.

Delhi:

Some offices of Delhi Administration entertain applications in Urdu and their reply is also sent in Urdu. The Registeration Office accepts documents in Urdu. Very few notifications, rules and regulations are published in Urdu. There is an Urdu Cell in the Language Department of Delhi Administration. The Cell is comprised of the Officer, one translater and one Urdu typist. The Gazette is not being published in Urdu. Most of the road signs and name plates bear names in Urdu.

Haryana:

State government offices do not entertain applications in Urdu. There is no translation Cell set up by the State Government. State Government does not publish Gazzete in Urdu. Electoral rolls are not published in Urdu. Rules, regulations and notification of the State Government are also not published in Urdu.

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Karnataka:

Urdu is not used in lower courts. Even in the Legislature, speeches have to be either in English or Kannada. Sign boards are not provided in Urdu.

Maharashtra:

There is no specific provision in the Maharashtra Official Language Act for using Urdu for specific official purposes even in areas the Urdu speaking population is ten percent or more. Applications are not received in Urdu by the State Government offices. Urdu documents are not entertained by the Registration Office. Urdu is not used in the lower courts. If a party insists that the evidence should be recorded in Urdu, then it is translated by a translator. The State Government does not translate rules, regulations and notifications in Urdu. Gazette is not published in Urdu.

Rajasthan:

In Rajasthan the Committee Noticed that not a signle law, rule or notification is published in Urdu. The only exception is the Rajasthan Waqf Rules, 1957 (which the Anjuman translated into Urdu at the request of the Rajasthan Government). The documents pertaining to Haj Committee are not published in Urdu. The Electoral Rolls are not published in Urdu. Name plates are displayed only in Hindi and English. Very few Road signs bear the names in Urdu.

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Uttar Pradesh:

Although Uttar Pradesh has accorded Urdu the status of second official language for specific purposes, no steps have been taken to implement this law. Application in Urdu are not accepted by the offices. If the petitioner insists on submitting petitions in Urdu, the Hindi translation is demanded by the officer concerned. The Registration office used to accept documents in Urdu before independence. This practice still continues. Government rules, regulations and notifications are not published in Urdu. Government orders and circulars of public importance are not being issued in Urdu. The State Government has undertaken the task of publishing the gazette in Urdu. However, it has so far accomplished the publication of the Gazette upto the year 1986. The current Gazettes are not being published in Urdu. There was not a single name-plate in the Secretariat of Uttar Pradesh. Very few road signs were written in Urdu alongwith Hindi.

West Bengal:

Although West Bengal Government has issued an executive order which stipulates that Urdu would be used in four districts for specific official purposes, this order has not yet been implemented. Petitions and representations in Urdu are not accepted by the Government offices. Documents written in Urdu are accepted by Registration office. Important Government rules and

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regulations are not published in Urdu. Government orders and circulars of public importance are not issued in Urdu even in areas where the Urdu population is 10 percent or more. Urdu translation of West Bengal Gazette is not published. Important sign boards road- signs and name plates are not exhibited in Urdu.

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