| The Odisha Official Language Act, 1954 | |
|---|---|
| Odisha Legislative Assembly | |
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| Enacted by | Odisha Legislative Assembly |
| Legislative history | |
| Bill title | Act no. 14 of 1954 |
| Amended by | |
| Act 18 of 1963 & Act 12 of 1985 | |
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The Odisha Official Language Act, 1954 is an Act of Odisha Legislative Assembly that recognizes Odia "to be used for all or any of the official purposes of the State of Odisha." [1]
Article 345 of the Constitution of India empowers the Legislature of the State to adopt 'any one or more of the languages in use in the State or Hindi as the language or languages to be used for all or any of the official purposes' of the concerned State. But it provides for the continued use of English for the 'purposes within the state for which it was being used before the commencement of the Constitution', until the Legislature of the State otherwise provides by law. [2] Orissa is the first state to be evolved on the basis of language. So The Orissa Official Language Act, 1954 was enacted in 1954. [3]
Despite the enactment, the implementation has not been done in a mass scale for which people of Odisha have voiced to ensure the use of Odia language in all official correspondence. The hunger strike by activist Gajanana Mishra was a prominent step in this direction was one such significant instance. [4] [5]
The Orissa Official Language Act, 1954 is the Orissa Act 14 of 1954 which received the assent of Governor on 1 October 1954 and was published in the Orissa Gazette on 15 October 1954. [6]
This section has been inserted by the Amendment Act 1963 which states about Continuance of English language for use in Legislature:
"Notwithstanding the expiration of the period of fifteen years from the commencement of the Constitution of India, the English language may, as from the 26th day of January, 1965, continue to be used, in addition to Oriya for the transaction of business in Legislature of the State of Orissa".
— Amendment Act 1963
Odisha, formerly Orissa, is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Scheduled Tribes in India. It neighbours the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal to the north, Chhattisgarh to the west, and Andhra Pradesh to the south. Odisha has a coastline of 485 kilometres (301 mi) along the Bay of Bengal in Indian Ocean. The region is also known as Utkala and is mentioned by this name in India's national anthem, "Jana Gana Mana". The language of Odisha is Odia, which is one of the Classical Languages of India.
Languages spoken in the Republic of India belong to several language families, the major ones being the Indo-Aryan languages spoken by 78.05% of Indians and the Dravidian languages spoken by 19.64% of Indians, both families together are sometimes known as Indic languages. Languages spoken by the remaining 2.31% of the population belong to the Austroasiatic, Sino–Tibetan, Tai–Kadai, and a few other minor language families and isolates. As per the People's Linguistic Survey of India, India has the second highest number of languages (780), after Papua New Guinea (840). Ethnologue lists a lower number of 456.
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Pandit Nilakantha Das (1884-1967) was one of the most illustrious sons of Odisha, who appeared both in its political and literary arena at the most crucial period of its history, when Odisha had no political identity in the map of India, and Odia as a language was about to be extinct. He worked relentlessly for Odisha's recognition both politically and linguistically, and helped bring to fruition the dreams of Utkala Gaurab Madhusudan Das, Utkalamani Gopabandhu Das and all other Odia loving people.
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Debi Prasanna Pattanayak is an Indian professor, linguist, social scientist and author. He was the founder-director of the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore and former chairman of Institute of Odia Studies and Research, Bhubaneswar. Pattanayak was awarded Padma Shri in 1987. for his contribution to formalize, and adding Bodo language in the 8th schedule of the Constitution of India. He also take a major role led Odia language to acquire the status of a "classical language".
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