Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the call for “Vocal for Local”. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee virtually echoed the same call on Wednesday at an administrative meeting at Malda.
She asked her administration to ensure that people conversant with Bengal language are given preference in appointment for government jobs.
She also said that in case of new job creation in the state, preference should be given to the natives of the state. She also said that all state governments should adopt the same strategy.
“In case of Bengal, only the citizens of the state, be that person is Hindi, or Rajbanshi speaking should be given preference provided he or she has principal address in the state and is conversant with Bengali as a language,” the chief minister said.
The political and intellectual fraternities in the state have mixed reactions on this issue. Some feel that it is imperative for administrative officers and staff to be conversant with Bengali since it will be helpful in interaction with local people and hence Bengali as the principal language in the state should be given preference. Some feel that the chief minister’s statements were expressions of her sentiments about Bengali as a language.
Renowned political scientist and the former principal of the Presidency College, Dr Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay said, “Though I personally do not want to criticize the statement of the chief minister, I personally feel that she could have avoided making this statement from a public forum. Generally, those who qualify the state civil services examinations are either Bengalis or are well conversant with Bengali as a language. The Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Service officers might not be Bengalis, but they learn the language during their service period. The chief minister might have said this from the policy point of view but she should have avoided that. Youth from our state residing outside for professional reasons might face problems due to this policy.”
All India Congress Committee (AICC) member, Suvankar Sarkar said, "It is beyond my imagination that why the chief minister made such a statement but personally I feel that it is better to learn Bengali besides English and Hindi. Still it does not mean that only Bengali-speaking people should be given preference in jobs”.
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