Siliguri, Feb. 16 -- In an effort to preserve the Bengali language, the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) has planned to make the Bengali language mandatory on all government and private signboards in Siliguri. The decision follows a similar initiative taken by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) in October of last year.
In this regard, Deputy Mayor Ranjan Sarkar said: "This has been a long-standing demand. Many people have raised this demand to us several times. Therefore, we thought of making this decision. This proposal will be presented in writing at the board of members' meeting, which will be held this month." The move aims to counter the growing dominance of English and Hindi in the city's commercial and public spaces.
The initiative has met with a largely positive response from residents of different linguistic backgrounds. Many have welcomed the decision, recognising the importance of Bengali in Bengal. Bipin Bihari Gupta, president of the Bihari Kalyan Manch, supported the move and said: "We live in Bengal and Bengali is the primary language here.
It is natural for signboards to feature Bengali.
However, given the city's diverse population and high influx of tourists, English and Hindi should also be included for accessibility." Similarly, Sanjay Tibruwal, Chairman of the North Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said: "We had proposed this to the state government long ago. We fully support this decision. Even if other languages are used, Bengali must be retained."
The decision comes amid concerns that Bengali is slowly disappearing from public spaces in major cities of Bengal. In Siliguri, several areas, including Sevoke Road, Burdwan Road, Champasari Main Road, Khalpara, Shalugara and Shalbari, have seen a sharp decline in Bengali signboards.
During the "Talk to Mayor" programme on Saturday, a resident named Sajalkumar Guha directly urged the Mayor to take action.
Mayor Deb responded: "We have already taken steps to address this issue and will implement the policy soon."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.