The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) issued an order in Nepali and English on Thursday, a day after the Sikkim government issued a notification that all official notices and gazettes would be published in both languages.
The Nepali-speaking people across the country appreciated the Sikkim government’s move. Many leaders in Darjeeling, including BJP Kurseong MLA B.P. Bajgain, praised the decision taken by Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay).
On Thursday, the GTA’s women and child development department issued an order regarding a decision taken by GTA executive Sabha on July 8, 2024, to grant a one-time ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh to the next of kin on the death of an anganwadi worker.
A senior GTA executive Sabha member said the Sikkim government’s order influenced its decision.
“The GTA had tried to use the language but it fizzled out. We have renewed the practice from today (Thursday) as there is no harm in following something good,” the GTA member, who did not want to be named, told this newspaper.
Issues such as identity and language are the crux of hill politics and the GTA leadership was criticised for their failure to implement Nepali despite being recognised in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution on August 20, 1992, from various quarters. The day is celebrated as Bhasha Diwas.
Addressing the Bhasha Diwas in Gangtok on Tuesday, Golay had promised to implement measures to strengthen the use of Nepali language.
On Wednesday, Sikkim chief secretary V.B. Pathak issued a notification stating: “Now, therefore, as a step towards fulfilling this constitutional mandate, the state government has decided that henceforth, all official notifications and gazettes shall be published in English and Nepali languages.”
Golay has also promised to issue advertisements in Nepali and has asked the state’s education department to explore the possibility of distributing Nepali dictionaries to the students.
“If noting (on government files) is made in Nepali (by officials), we will have no problems as the language has been constitutionally recognised,” Golay added.