Shops in Ludh yet to put up signboards in Punjabi
On Feb 21, 2023, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann approved the amendment to the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Rules, making it must for all businesses to display signboards in Punjabi. The amendment, which inserted new rules 23 and 24, allowed businesses to use other languages, in addition to Punjabi. A time of six months had been given to comply with the new regulations.
Failure to comply would invite a fine of Rs 1,000 and a subsequent fine of Rs 2,000.
But many prominent hotels and businesses near Bhai Wala Chowk, Aarti Chowk and likewise several businesses and commercial establishments are yet to have the Gurmukhi versions of their names on their signboards.
Though many MNCs, banks, etc., have put up such signboards, they are not sticking to the rules. In most cases, the Gurmukhi versions are written in much smaller fonts or sometimes in the corner of the name boards, which is a violation of the rules.
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Mahinder Singh Sekhon, coordinator, Punjabi Bhasha Parsar Bhaichara, said, "The rules are not being enforced in true spirit. Since the fine amount in Punjab is quite low, that is why the approach towards implementation of these rules is also too lax."
District language officer Sandeep Sharma said they are ensuring that all govt buildings have the names in Punjabi displayed prominently.
When asked, assistant labour commissioner Sarbjot Singh Sidhu too said it is being ensured that all new establishments have their name boards in Punjabi. "Majority of the bigger showrooms or MNCs have their names in Punjabi. Whenever a licence is given, it is part of the checklist to ensure that the names are in Punjabi. Whenever we receive any complaint regarding this, we educate and sensitise them so that they update the names in Gurmukhi as per rules.
It is a shared responsibility of other departments, including ours, the language and GST departments as well," he added.
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