Odia Language To Be Used In Signboards Of All Higher Education Institutions In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The state government has asked all the higher secondary schools, degree colleges, and universities to mandatorily display their signboards and nameplates of faculty and authorities concerned with all higher education institutions (HEIs) correctly in Odia.

The Culture Department issued a directive to all the HEIs on Wednesday asking the principal secretaries of both the Higher Education and School and Mass Education departments to ensure that Odia language is used in the signboards and nameplates of faculty members, non-teaching staff, and heads of the institutions.

The first line of the signboard or nameplate will be written in Odia, English can subsequently be used but in a smaller font size. The institutions have been given a deadline of 30 days to implement the order.

Director of Culture Department Ranjan Das said this directive for HEIs will help in propagating and popularising the Odia language among students.

Notably, many HEIs, particularly private institutions, only have English signboards.

It is pertinent to mention here that the state government made it mandatory for all public schools to put up signboards and nameplates in the Odia language in 2018.

Prior to that in August 2016, the government enacted the rules of the Odisha Official Language Act, 1954, formally bringing it into force for official work in the Odia language.