Islamabad, Dec 21: Road signage, directional boards, and metro station information in Delhi will soon feature Hindi, English, Punjabi, and Urdu, following a directive issued by the Department of Arts, Culture, and Language on November 4.
The directive covers metro stations, hospitals, public parks, government offices, and even nameplates outside bureaucrats’ offices. The Public Works Department, responsible for managing 1,250 km of Delhi’s roads, will oversee the updates to road signage.
Currently, public signage in Delhi predominantly includes Hindi and English. Under the new mandate, all public boards and signages will incorporate all four languages—Hindi, English, Punjabi, and Urdu—in that order, with uniform font sizes for each language.
This initiative aligns with a 2011 directive from the Union Home Ministry’s Department of Official Language, which instructed Region A states, including Delhi, to prioritize Hindi on public signage while considering other regionally significant languages. It also complies with The Delhi Official Languages Act, 2000, which recognizes Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu as the city’s official languages.
The inclusion of these four languages is based on their relevance:
- Hindi: Recognized as the primary official language due to its widespread use.
- English: Included as an associate official language for its administrative importance.
- Punjabi: Reflects the significant Punjabi-speaking population of 873,000, according to the Delhi Statistical Handbook 2023.
- Urdu: Holds cultural and historical significance, with 867,000 speakers in the city.
“These languages symbolize Delhi’s Ganga-Jamni tehzeeb [composite culture], promoting linguistic and cultural diversity,” said Shehpar Rasool, chairperson of the Delhi Urdu Academy, in a statement to PTI.
