Bhagwant Maan government committed to give due respect to mother tongue: Meet Hayer

Special events will be held on January 1 at the head office and district offices on the occasion of the 75th anniversary

Chandigarh – Higher Education and Languages Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer released the logo of the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the Languages Department which is celebrating its 75th anniversary on January 1, 2023. On this day special functions will be organized at the Head Office Bhasha Bhavan Patiala and in all the District Language Offices across the state.

Meet Hayer said that this department was established on January 1, 1948 as the Punjabi Section, in the year 1949 its name was changed to the Department of Punjabi and then from the year 1956 onwards as the Language Department, Punjab. The department has published 1632 books so far which include Lexicography and Punjabi World Dictionary which is the first work in Punjabi language. For the convenience of students and researchers, it has done a unique work by printing about 35 dictionaries in Punjabi language. Rare Punjabi works like Mahan Kosh, Folk Tales of Punjab, Gulsitan Bostan, Shaheedan-e-Wafa have also been published.

Languages Minister further said that the State Government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is committed to the development of languages and giving due respect to the Punjabi mother tongue. It was announced to give preference to Punjabi language while any language other than Punjabi can be written on the boards thus respecting other languages as well. The language department has also done significant work for the development of Punjabi, Hindi, Sanskrit and Urdu languages. The language department publishes 4 magazines in different languages.

Meet Hayer invited all the Punjabis to celebrate the foundation day of the Department of Language in a collective manner and also assured the Punjabis that this institution of the State Government will continue to progress further. For this, government is making all kinds of efforts.