DARJEELING,: Following the Sikkim government’s decision to issue official notices
and gazettes in Nepali language along with English, the Gorkhaland Territorial
Administration (GTA) has also initiated a similar practice here from Thursday onwards.
GTA Sabha deputy
chairman Rajesh Chauhan said, “We have started using Nepali language in issuing
notices and orders from Thursday onwards in GTA offices. We plan to do more
like starting it to be used in GTA school work also which we have to discuss
first.”
The Sikkim
government had on August 21 issued a notification stating that all official
notifications and gazettes would be published in both English and Nepali.
The
practice of using Nepali language has already been started by the GTA, an
example of which was seen on Thursday itself where they issued an order in both
Nepali and English languages.
The order
had been issued by the GTA’s Women & Child Development department regarding
a decision taken by GTA executive Sabha on July 8 this year to grant a one-time
ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh
to the next of kin on the death of an Anganwadi worker.
Political
and social organisations in Darjeeling hills have been demanding that official
notifications from GTA should also be issued in Nepali language.
The GTA
had earlier on in the past tried to use the Nepali language in their offices
but after some time the practice went into obscurity. During that time, a
different political party ran the GTA.
With
praises coming in from different fronts on the decision of the Sikkim
government on the usage of Nepali language, political observers feel that the
decision taken by the GTA on the same lines has some bearing on it.
