Subhas Chandra Pattanayak
In an article in Samaja, the daily newspaper now ill-famed for its notoriety under illegal control of Servants of People Society, but in popularity still stable because of being co-founded by another stalwart of Oriya nationalism Pt. Gopabandhu Das, famous linguist Dr. Debi Prasanna Pattanayak has held that, the anglicized mentality of Orissa’s elite and administrators is the main cause of decline of utility of Oriya in Orissa.
In the article published on October 7 under the caption, ORIYA GATI O PRAGATI, he has detailed the mischief the State government has played in keeping the Oriya Official Language Act 1954 inconsequential till date.
The tremendous achievement obtained in national recognition of Oriya’s classical status ahead of major languages like Hindi and Bengali has not yet been used by the State Government to advantage of Orissa, he has pointed out.
The agreement of Government with Bhasa Sangram Samiti for governance of Orissa in Oriya that gave birth to a Ministerial Committee to act jointly with the Samiti to implement the Act has not proceeded in right earnest, he has noted.
Whereas the Oriya Bhasa Pratisthana specially created for study and furtherance of Oriya linguistic excellence has been derailed by the Government, its announcement to establish smart schools with English as the pivotal language is shocking and alarming specifically when the Government has agreed with the Samiti in matter of its demands for governance of Orissa in Oriya and when the call of the moment is creation of man power in Oriya by imparting school education in the mother tongue. More harmful than English to our people is the anglicized mindset of people in administration, Dr. Pattanayak has pointed out emphatically in this article.
We put below the same as a historical document.
