Dhenkanal: Dhenkanal district administration has served notices to as many as 30 shop owners for not using Odia on their signboards in the district, a source said Monday.
The Labour Department of the district administration served the notices in the past week after Odisha government issued a notification April 6 warning heavy penalty for those not displaying signboards in Odia.
District Labour Officer Satyanarayan Acharya said that around 200-250 stalls have not followed the law in the district.
“Till now nearly 30 shopowners who did not put Odia on their signboards deliberately have been served notices”, he said.
Acharya further added that the department will try to enforce usage of Odia language on each and every signboard in the district by May 1.
It can be mentioned here that after Odia got the classical language status in 2018, the state government implemented laws to make the Odia language compulsory on signboards for shops, government offices, and private organisations in the state. However, these entities can include other languages like English in addition to Odia on their signboards.
However, the order was not taken seriously by many. As a result, Odisha government included a penalty of Rs 5,000 if the signboard was not changed following non-compliance with the first notice and Rs 25,000 for defiance after the second notice.
It can also be mentioned here that even after five years of the legislation becoming law, non-Odia signboards can be found in plenty of places of Odisha.
PNN