No language barrier in RS now
NEW DELHI: Keeping his promise, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has made it possible for the members of the Upper House to speak in any of the 22 Scheduled languages as the Secretariat has arranged simultaneous interpretation facilities for five more languages, which include Dogri, Kashmiri, Konkani, Santhali and Sindhi.
The members would be able to speak in their own local language from the Monsoon Session of Parliament which is beginning on July 18.
According to an official press communiqué, soon after assuming the office, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu had assured that necessary measures would be taken to enable the members to speak in any of the 22 languages listed in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.
Naidu had said that speaking in mother tongue enables better expression of thoughts.
In pursuance of this assurance, Rajya Sabha Secretariat has made special efforts to identify, select and train interpreters in these five languages.
Conveying his sense of importance for promoting the use of mother tongue, the Rajya Sabha Chairman himself inducted the panel of new interpreters on Tuesday by awarding them certificates of completion of training and eligibility.
Speaking at the occasion, Naidu said, “I have always felt that mother tongue is the natural medium to convey our feelings and thoughts without any retention. In a multilingual city such as the Parliament, members must not feel handicapped or inferior to others due to language constraints.”
Naidu further said, “It was due to this reason that I was keen to have simultaneous interpretation facility for all the 22 scheduled languages. I am glad this is becoming a reality from the coming Monsoon Session of Parliament.”
Meanwhile, in a first after 66 years of its existence, the Rajya Sabha has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a foreign counterpart for promoting inter-parliamentary dialogue as the Upper House has inked an MOU with the visiting President of the Senate of the Republic of Rwanda Bernard Makuza on Tuesday.