All Punjab govt signboards to sport Punjabi language prominently in state

The Punjab government on Friday made it mandatory for all its departments, boards and corporations besides the semi-government institutions to display their signboards in Punjabi language.

As per the new regulations, even state road milestones will now be prominently sporting the Punjabi language, written in Gurmukhi script. The new regulations, however, will not apply to the national highways and various central government departments.

The announcement was made by Higher Education and Languages Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa on the occasion of the International Mother Language Day.

The Punjab Languages Department issued orders as per the Punjab State Language Act, 1967 in this regard, said a government statement here.

The sign boards in all the government and semi-government institutions, boards, corporations and road milestones would be written in Punjabi on the top in Gurmukhi Script and if need arises to write in any other language, it will be written below in smaller font, said the statement.

Higher Education and Languages Department Secretary Rahul Bhandari has written a letter to the heads of all state departments, divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners, district sessions judges, Punjab Vidhan Sabha secretary, Punjab and Haryana High Court registrar, chairmen of boards and corporations and all semi- government organisations, to implement this decision in true spirit, the statement said.

The minister further said to implement this decision in private business, industrial and educational institutes, the Languages Department has written to the labour department to issue a separate notification in this regard, which is expected to be issued soon.