Goa govt contemplating penal provisions for better implementation of Official Languages Act: CM Pramod Sawant

The Goa government is considering the introduction of penal provisions to enforce the use of Konkani in official communications in the coastal state, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told the assembly on Wednesday.

The CM was responding to questions by the Opposition leaders over poor implementation of the Official Languages Act, which made Konkani the Goa's official language in 1987.

Even the website of the state government’s Official Language Department is in English, said Goa Forward Party MLA Vijai Sardesai during the ongoing winter session of the House.

The legislator said that a majority of government websites claim to be in Konkani but visitors are diverted to the English version once they start exploring the portals.

Sardesai apart, Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao, Congress MLA Altone D’Costa and AAP member Venzy Viegas also questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for going slow with the implementation of the Official Languages Act in the state.

MLA Viegas demanded that the government give a deadline for full implementation of the Act, while Alemao suggested an increase in the funding for organisations like Goa Konkani Academy that are striving to promote the language.

CM Sawant attributed the poor adoption of Konkani by government departments to a lack of penal provisions, which he said need to be included by amending the law.

Sawant said that the implementation of the Act should be made compulsory.

On Sardesai’s concern that most websites of the state government are not bilingual, the CM said that the government has started the process to make them available in English as well as Konkani, though he did not give a time frame.

The CM said the state has already appointed translators who are on the job.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)