Even though the State Government has announced implementation of Odisha Official language Act 1954 from the Independence Day this year, preparations seem lacking in this regard at the level of the Government.
Especially, efforts have not yet started for execution of Government office work in Odia language through computer.
Sources said that most of the office work ranging from State Secretariat to gram panchayats is being done in English language through computers.
While file work in the departments of the State Secretariat is being carried out through the Odisha Secretariat Workflow Automation System (OSWAS), the official letters available on e-dispatch site is in English language.
Similarly, English is being used as a medium for doing office work at district and block level too.
For use of Odia in Government offices, software in Odia language is needed. Besides, officials should have Odia language typing skills.
While there are around 4,000 computers in the Secretariat, most of them do not have Odia software. The situation is similar in districts, blocks and tehsils.
According to experts, installing Odia software in all the computers is a time-consuming process. It would take at least three to four months for use of Odia language in OSWAS.
Firstly, a decision has to be taken at the official level for purchasing Odia software. later, tenders need to be floated, and following the tender process, the software can be purchased and installed in all computers.
And installation of Odia software in computers is not enough. Officials, who operate the computers, need to be provided training for typing in Odia.
However, these processes have not been started yet. Recently, the Department of law had faced difficulties in preparing Bills in Odia language.
Neither there was computer software in Odia nor were officials available to type the draft in Odia. The department hurriedly hired officials having knowledge about Odia typing on computer to draft the Bills, which was to be placed in the State Assembly
So, after August 15, the date announced for implementation of the Odisha Official language Act in all departments, the Government is likely to face Herculean task, feel insiders.