New Delhi, June 25
The President has given his assent to The Delhi Official Languages Bill, 2000, making Urdu and Punjabi the second official languages in the Capital, it was announced today.
The government in the process fulfilled the four-decade-old demands of Sikhs and Muslims in Delhi.
The President accorded his assent to the Bill on the recommendation of Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, a Home Ministry official said.
The enactment declares Punjabi in Gurmukhi script and Urdu in Urdu script to be second official languages of Delhi for official purposes, he disclosed.
With this enactment, it would be necessary to publish the translation of important government rules, regulations and gazette notifications and of important government advertisements in Punjabi and Urdu.
The official said it had also been made obligatory on the government functionaries in the Government of Delhi to reply to the applications and petitions made in Punjabi and Urdu in the same languages. The enactment further provides that the proceedings of the Delhi Legislative Assembly shall be recorded and issued simultaneously in Punjabi and Urdu also whenever required, he said.
UNI
