Students object to omission of Punjabi from new PU signboards

Chandigarh: Students at Panjab University (PU) sought corrective action within two days after newly-installed nameplates outside rooms and offices at University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS) featured Hindi, English and Braille, but not the Punjabi language.Members of student organisation Sath submitted a memorandum to the Equal Opportunity Cell, seeking inclusion of Punjabi on new signboards being installed under the ongoing accessibility and infrastructure revamp drive on the campus. Students stated that the new boards outside departmental rooms in UILS display Hindi at the top, followed by English and Braille while Punjabi has been omitted. In the memorandum, the organisation asked the university administration to address the issue in two days and ensure Punjabi was included on signboards.The issue surfaced during ongoing accessibility-related work being undertaken across the university. The project includes installation of Braille-enabled signage and other infrastructural modifications in departments and public spaces.Officials associated with the Equal Opportunity Cell said signage work is being carried out through an external agency engaged for the project. They said the matter has already been conveyed to the university's construction office and would be taken up with the agency concerned.Officials also pointed out that before the present revamp exercise, most room signboards in university departments were largely in English, except in language departments such as Hindi and Punjabi, where multilingual boards existed. They said Hindi has now been added to several such signages for the first time as part of the ongoing standardisation process.The issue came amid wider changes being introduced under PU's accessibility initiative, under which Braille signages and navigation-related modifications are being incorporated across the campus. The memorandum stated that Punjabi has been part of multilingual signage within the university and demanded that all newly-installed boards carry Punjabi prominently. MSID:: 130962397 413 |