With Odia not being included in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) website when six other regional languages Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu did, the Samajwadi Party (SP), State unit on Mondaytermed the development as unfortunate and said it was an insult to crores of Odias. Party State president Rabi Behera urged the people to protest the discrepancy during PM Modi’s June 2 Odisha visit.
“This proves the apathetic attitude of Modi towards Odisha,” said Behera, adding, “The NDA Government is not giving any importance to the social, economical and cultural development of Odisha.”
Notably, the new language versions of the PMO website were launched on Sunday by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
Similarly, the Utkal Sammilani too resented exclusion of Odia from the website. In the Multilanguage website, Odia language did not get any place, said Utkal Sammilani president Dillip Dashsharma.
“We hope the PM will reconsider it as the Odia has already got the classical status,” he added. The Sammilani demanded that the PM announce inclusion of Odia in the Website at the upcoming Baleswar meeting.
