Be it National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language or Urdu Academy Delhi, Delhi Waqf Board or Delhi Minority Commission, all these institutions are shedding tears over their helplessness.
– Shakilur Rahman
New Delhi, Dec. 5: Minority institutions were established with the aim of benefiting the people of the minority community, but today these institutions are being completely ignored. People were hopeful that the present central and state governments would make new plans for the development of these institutions and work would be done at double the pace, but regrettably, the work of minority institutions has come to a standstill.
One of these institutions is the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) wherefrom a lot of work is done to promote the Urdu language and literature, but the Union Government has not formed its governing body for the last two years, due to which literary activities are hampered. They are stalled and the work for development and education of Urdu is not being done in a better way. Moreover, due to absence of a permanent Director of NCPUL, the institution is not able to function with full strength. Regarding minority institutions, the intentions of not only the Union Government but also the Delhi Government are not clear.
Urdu Academy Delhi, Delhi Minority Commission and Delhi Waqf Board, all are shedding tears of helplessness. As for Delhi Waqf Board, the post of Chairman has been vacant since August 2023. Due to continuous delay in the formation of the Board, poor, needy and widowed women are not being helped. Every day the Imams of the Waqf Board are seen protesting on the streets for their salaries. The Imams have received only 5-month salary out of 19 months. The Imams are forced to take rounds the Delhi Waqf Board office to get 14-month salary. Due to delay in formation of the Board, there is also lack of security of Waqf properties.
Recently, the dismissal of more than 70 employees from the Waqf Board raises the question as to how the work will be done when there is no employee.
As for Urdu Academy Delhi, its condition is also not that good. There is also a delay in the formation of the governing body of Urdu Academy Delhi, once considered the most active academy of India. Here too, the post of Vice Chairman is lying vacant, while the Aam Aadmi Party, which is ruling Delhi, is maintaining its hold and it calls itself the party that will bring revolution in the field of education. The ground reality of the Urdu language is something else. To what extent is Delhi Urdu Academy concerned about the Urdu language can be gauged from the fact that the literacy centers created for the promotion of the Urdu language in Delhi have been closed for the last three years, while education is continuing normally in schools and colleges of Delhi.
However, the condition of Delhi Minorities Commission is also not good. After completing its tenure recently, there is no such news from anywhere, what is the Delhi government doing regarding the Delhi Minorities Commission?
In this regard, National President of Urdu Development Organization, Dr. Syed Ahmed Khan said that the government does not belong to any particular class, rather it works for everyone. The Union Government has given the slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas’. Therefore, we hope that the Government will soon take a big step for Urdu.
He demanded that if the Union Government has any new plan for the reform of a big institution like NCPUL, it should be implemented as soon as possible; if not, the governing body of NCPUL should be constituted as per the old plan. This is because due to non-formation of the governing body for the last two years, the budget worth lakhs spent for the development of Urdu language has been withdrawn. Therefore, the government should constitute a National Urdu Language Development Council and appoint a permanent director so that Urdu get a chance to flourish and literary programs can be organised.
Expressing concern over the condition of NCPUL, renowned social activist Sheikh Alimuddin Asadi said NCPUL has its own importance in promoting the Urdu language not only in India but in the whole world. Over the years, the scope of this big institution is shrinking, this is because to run any institution officers are also needed along with employees.
Sheikh Alimuddin said that for the last two years, there has been a wait for the formation of the governing body of NCPUL. This is the first time in the history of NCPUL that it does not have a permanent director. The post of Principal Publication Officer (PPO) is also vacant in this institute, which proves that the government wants to weaken the roots of this mighty tree of Urdu. He said that if the bodies of these organizations are not formed as soon as possible, people as well as the Urdu language will continue to suffer losses.
