A parliamentary panel on Thursday stressed the need to promote the country's endangered languages to preserve its national heritage and culture.
The Senate Functional Committee on Problems of Less Developed Areas met here with Senator Usman Khan Kakar in the chair. The committee called upon the Ministry of National History and Literary Heritage to ensure the protection of country's regional languages which were near to extinction.
Kakar while underscoring the need to take special measures to rejuvenate the local identity said that around five thousand languages were being spoken globally. He added that the government should allocate sufficient funds for promotion of national literature, languages and culture.
He said that concerned department should play its due role to bridge a gap between the locals belonging to different religions, casts and races. He underscored the need to take steps for the promotion of country's widely spoken languages like Pashto, Punjabi, Sindhi, Saraiki and Brahui.
The chairman committee recommended constituting a special committee to translate and promote the work of Pakistani scholars, authors and intellectuals in the local languages being spoken across the country.
Secretary National History and Literary Heritage Division, Aamir Hasan apprised the meeting that the National Language Promotion Department (NLPD) was set up on October 4, 1979 to promote Urdu as the national language by strengthening cooperation among academic, research and educational institutions.
The prime objective of the department was to facilitate the government in order to use Urdu for official communication among the state's institutions, he added. Aamir said that it was decided to make Urdu an official one instead of English within the period of 15 years, but unfortunately the initiative could not see the day of light, he regretted.
Director General NLPD Iftikhar Arif informed the meeting that around 700 books on different topics in Urdu have been published so far, besides translating seven thousand pages of different documents.
He said that various books have also been published in the national language for 40 universities across the country, adding that 100 books of science were also translated in this regard.
The chairman Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) told the committee that the government was providing sufficient funds for the promotion of different languages.
The PAL had translated all the books of Allama Iqbal into Urdu and stipend was also being provided to the poets and authors of major languages, he said, adding that in 1976 the PAL was established with an aim to promote the literature work of Pakistani authors and scholars.
He said that academy was also being publishing a news letter regularly and also had organised 15 national and international conferences for the promotion of literature. The exhibitions were being organised annually and 20 intellectuals were also awarded prize money of Rs 200,000 each, he added. Arif said that one million rupee prize money had also been given to the renowned poets while budget of Rs 10 million had been specified for that purpose.
Kakar said that a budget of Rs 20 million should be allocated in that regard, adding that the country's authors, poets and intellectuals should be given free accommodation along with health care facilities. Senator Kalsoom Parven said that a foundation should be established for the welfare of artists, intellectuals, authors and poets.
The meeting was also attended by senators Sardar Muhammad Shafiq Tareen and Gyan Chand, as well as other senior officials of the Ministry of National History and Literary Heritage.
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