Punjab Day: Lekhak Sabha to start awareness campaign to promote Punjabi

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Amritsar, October 31

On the occasion of Punjab Day, Kendri Punjabi Lekhak Sabha today decided to soon launch ‘Mat Bhasha Jagrookta Mohim’, a mother tongue awareness campaign. The campaign will be launched with the support of local literary societies across the state.

Members of the Sabha said it was shocking that the province which was established on the basis of language on November 1, 1966, has neither its own capital nor High Court, even after the passage of six decades.

Darshan Buttar, president of the Sabha, said due to loopholes in the Official Languages Act, the officials avoid doing work in Punjabi, despite knowing that it violates government orders. He said matters concerning Punjab like its river water, repatriation of Punjabi-speaking areas and Chandigarh have been politicised. Instead of finding a meaningful solution to the challenges faced by the state, the political parties have paid more attention to their own interests instead of fulfilling responsibility towards Punjab, he said.

Other members of the Sabha, including Sushil Dosanjh, Dr Harjinder Singh Atwal and Deep Devinder Singh demanded that the government should create a sound source of employment on the basis of Punjabi language in the education department to make the mother tongue employment-oriented, so that the present-day youth find better avenues here. They may not need to go abroad then in search of greener pastures, they said.