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Calcutta:
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has made it mandatory for every commercial establishment in the metropolis to put up signboards in Bengali and other languages, an official said.
The civic body is committed to enforcing the use of Bengali in signage and has set a tentative deadline of February 21, 2025 to start the process, he said.
Municipal Secretary Swapan Kundu said the company is liaising with the owners of shops, restaurants and other business establishments to ensure that names and other information about the outlets are written in Bengali in addition to any other language.
In October, TMC councilor Biswarup Dey had said at a KMC session that all signboards in public and private offices should have Bengali text, apart from other languages, and all notices, letters and documents of the municipal corporation should also be in Bengali published.
Dey had made the proposal after Bengali was given the distinction of a classical language by the Center on October 3, along with Assamese, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit.
KMC Mayor Firhad Hakim had also earlier said that he will urge private advertising agencies and shops to use Bengali in their signboards.
“I have nothing against the use of Hindi, English or other languages in banners, streamers, signage and other such means of communication. But Bengali should also be there along with the others,” Hakim had said.
In a similar move by the KMC in 2007, then mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya had issued notices to make it mandatory for shop owners to use Bengali and other languages on signboards, but that did not happen.
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