New Delhi: If the plan proposed by the Lok Sabha Secretariat is implemented, Members of Parliament will no longer have to rely on English or Hindi translations in Parliament and will be able to listen to proceedings in their own languages in the new Parliament House.
The idea, mooted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, will not only promote Indian languages in Parliament, but will also be convenient for MPs.
On 28 June, the Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a circular on realtime two-way interpretation facility (simultaneous interpretation) in all 22 languages in Schedule 8 of the Constitution of India and the staff of the Lok Sabha Secretariat to test the scheme in the two regional languages invited. Languages, Kannada and Telugu.
“The Lok Sabha Speaker’s plan will bring about a sea change in the way regional languages are used in Parliament,” said a senior Lok Sabha official. In the current system, any member who wishes to speak in a language other than Hindi and English is encouraged to give prior intimation to the Presiding Officer of the House to enable the Secretariat to arrange an interpreter in advance.
“In the new system, translators will interpret in 22 languages, in real time, all important proceedings like budget announcements, debate on bills or discussion on the President’s speech. The service will be available to all MPs in the chamber as well as visitors and journalists in the gallery,” said another official. No officer wants to reveal his identity.
“Members from some states, especially from South India, prefer to speak in their own language. It is not that they do not know Hindi or English, but speaking in their mother tongue helps them to connect better with their constituency. This could be particularly useful as the Lok Sabha distributes video clippings of speeches to MPs,” said P Sreedharan, former secretary general of the Lok Sabha.
But the former top Lok Sabha bureaucrat also underlines that “it is usually difficult to find a suitable interpreter”. “In my time, I remember taking seven auditions to fill the position of interpreter.”
A third senior official said 43 officers have been selected for the pool of interpreters and have been transferred to the property management branch in the new building “to test the interpretation facilities”.
The new Parliament building inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28 amid boycotts by several opposition parties will have a modern information and technology system and MPs will have a personal tablet on their desks to browse important data or documents for quick reference. will get.
In the new building, a large space spread over two floors for the Prime Minister’s Office, a separate office for the Special Protection Group and rooms for all Union ministers are also being prepared.
Officials said only a few essential parliamentary departments such as the Table Office, Legislation Branch, Notices Office and Parliamentary Correspondent Branch will be shifted to the new building for now. “The bulk of the existing workforce will continue to work from their existing offices in the Old Building, the Library Building and the upper floors of Parliament House.”
