Hills, Dooars welcome inclusion of all state-recognised languages

Darjeeling: The West Bengal Forest department on Friday published a corrigendum for the process for engagement of 'Bana Sahayaks' whereby ability to read and write Bengali "or any officially recognised language of the state" would earn 60 marks for the candidate. Earlier, only "Bengali" language was specified. The corrigendum was lauded by the Hills, Terai and Dooars.

The move also managed to bury a hatchet on any future attempts to create a 2017-like unrest over the issue, feel political observers.

Incidentally on July 30, the department had issued a notice stating that 2,000 "Bana Sahayaks" (forest assistants) would be recruited on contractual basis for a period of one year. The 'Bana Sahayaks' would be paid Rs 10,000 per month. However, the notice had stated in para 3(c) that an oral test would be conducted with 60 marks allotted for the ability to read and write Bengali. This had prompted public representatives and heads of organisations to write to the Forest minister, requesting for the inclusion of other languages recognised in West Bengal.

Opposition parties, including the BJP, were quick to label it as "discrimination." On Friday, a corrigendum was issued in which para 3(c) clearly stated that "ability to read and write Bengali or any officially recognized language of the State as applicable in the district under the West Bengal Official Language Act of 1961 as amended from time to time" would enable the candidate a maximum of 60 marks.

Along with Bengali and English, the official languages of West Bengal are Nepali, Urdu, Hindi, Odia, Ol-Chiki, Gurmukhi, Kamtapuri, Rajbanshi and Kurmali.

"We thank Forest minister Rajib Banerjee on behalf of the Nepali language-speaking candidates of the Hills for honouring our request. I had written to him on August 1 on behalf of the Nepali speaking candidates of the GTA area, Terai and Dooars," stated Anit Thapa, GTA chairman.

The Adivasi organisations have also welcomed the move. "It is a welcome gesture. It will be a big advantage for the candidates," stated Birsa Tirkey, West Bengal president of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad, a pan-India tribal welfare organisation.

Incidentally, in 2017, a similar issue was played upon that finally snowballed into a violent agitation which culminated in a 104 day bandh, violence, arson and death.

In that year, there were talks doing the rounds in the Hills that the state government had planned to introduce Bengali as a compulsory subject in the government schools which led to protests. Despite repeated assurances by the Chief Minister that the government had no such intention, the issue was fuelled and fanned into an agitation.

Political observers feel that before the 2021 Bengal Assembly elections there could a similar attempt to disturb the peace and tranquility in the Hills.