No takers for Language Dept’s Punjabi, Urdu courses

Gurdeep Singh Mann

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 9

The growing use of and craze for the English language have completely eclipsed the government-run Language Department where the learning of Punjabi and Urdu was once a matter of prestige.

With hardly anyone visiting the centres of the department to learn their mother tongue Punjabi or Urdu, which is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India, most of these centres in various districts of the state are almost defunct.

“Even if someone like me expresses the desire to learn Punjabi or Urdu, he is shown the door by the helpless staff as there is a dearth of space, staff and instructors,” said Tarwinder Dhillon, a resident of Aggarwal Colony.

Apart from teaching Punjabi and Urdu, the department also offers free courses for typing and shorthand.

Its officials are also supposed to encourage the people to use Punjabi in government departments, hold seminars to inculcate the habit of reading and writing among school and college students.

But due to various reasons, including staff shortage, lack of will and fund crunch, the department is almost lying defunct in Bathinda, Mansa, Amritsar and numerous other districts.

Things were not so bad in the recent past. In the past few years, nearly 300 students — of various age groups — learnt Urdu at the Bathinda centre.

The Language Department is situated in the District Administrative Complex (DAC) in Bathinda.

Avtar Singh Bindra, an Urdu instructor who had taught this language to more than 500 students, said that his age now does not allow him to climb the stairs of the DAC. Hence, he has discontinued teaching.

“The only instructor here has stopped teaching due to old age. This has led to the shutting down of the centre,” said Buta Singh, a retired FCI official who learnt the basics of Urdu recently.

The staff too has its share of problems. “The District Language Officer (DLO) has the additional charge of Bathinda and ‘comes’ from Patiala,” Buta Singh said.

“The use of Punjabi and Urdu is going down due to the indifferent attitude of the government and lack of practical approach in their teaching,” said Tarwinder Dhillon.

“A big teaching hall at their department was taken over by the Excise Department recently on the DC’s orders. Now, there are just three small rooms — one for the DLO, store-room and office for staff. Also, there is no instructor to teach shorthand, Urdu or Punjabi,” Tarwinder said.

Chetan Singh, director of the Language Department, Punjab, said that there was no effect on the functioning of the department which is selling books to readers. “The issue of instructors is supposed to be taken care of by the Education Department. If you need any books, we can provide that instantly,” he said.