West Bengal to make Bengali mandatory in all govt departments from September 1

Kolkata: The West Bengal government will make Bengali mandatory as the official language for the functioning of every government department at all levels from September 1, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari announced in the assembly on Monday.

"The state government will use Bengali in all public communication, including citizen services, digital governance systems, websites, application forms, certificates, portals, mobile applications, training materials, public signage, press releases and other official communications, from September 1," he said. "We will make the Bengali language mandatory across all levels from September 1.

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During this period, our government will arrange for translators and other necessary requirements," the chief minister announced, following advice from Union home minister Amit Shah.

"This is being done to ensure that, at every level of administration, from the land and Land Reforms Department to the Chief Minister's Office, file processing, note-taking, official correspondence and government orders are conducted in the Bengali language," he said.

The chief minister also said that both Bengali and Hindi would be used for official purposes, particularly for communication with the Centre.