Use of five languages including Dogri, Kashmiri and Hindi as official languages in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir was duly given a shape of an Act known as Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Act which was passed by both the houses of the Parliament in the month of September this year and the same receiving the assent of the President soon thereafter became an Act. However, the same continues to remain in a state of dormancy. Even after one month passing of its enactment, there is no formal notification nor anything connected therewith having taken place in order to have its early implementation much to the satisfaction of all the citizens. However, there was a provision of creating of a Nodal Department to supervise the use of five official languages for all or any of the official purposes but till date, no nomination has taken place . Agreed, by the standards of the quantum of time taken in even sensitive matters in Jammu and Kashmir, just one month is not too enough to be felt
so serious about but it being an emotive and sensitive issue , a prompt and pointed attention is required as early as possible to have all the modalities completed in all respects for implementation purposes. It may be noted that English language was to continue to be used for those administrative and legislative purposes for which it was being used before the enactment of the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Act. On the other hand, the business in the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory shall be transacted in the official language or the languages of the Union Territory. In other words, the element of flexibility would be found in the said Act to that extent . The implementation, as per the Act of the Official Languages, would be deemed effective from the date the Administrator or the Lieutenant Governor as in the case of Jammu and Kashmir may, by notification in the official gazette, notify for purposes of usage of Kashmiri , Dogri, Hindi , Urdu and English languages as official languages. However more than a month has passed but no notification or its ilk has taken place . We have learnt that it is not that the delay caused in such an important issue is not known to the UT Government as the issue is said to have been debated in a high level meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary in the middle of October this year .The meeting is reported to have witnessed deliberations upon the need to create wings and sections to facilitate requisite translations of official orders and communications and their hosting in all the five official languages of Jammu and Kashmir. However, it is not that absolutely in the absence of an official notification , nothing positive has taken place as some type of development is reported to have been made in that the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj has already worked out to issue Panchayati Newsletter in all the five official languages . It would have been in the fitness of things to create a proper section or wing to carry out the basic exercise for the implementation process and to continuously monitor it . People are otherwise anxiously waiting for Government to issue orders, circulars and notification in all the five languages. On the front of promotion and development of regional languages, no formal steps have been taken so far . The institutional mechanism and support, for example from Academy of Art, Culture and Languages is not forthcoming as there is no official rapport between the concerned departments nor the Academy specifically asked about the same. Anyway, let the Government take such steps that would monitor the entire exercise meticulously in order to have th
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