The Rajya Sabha has passed the Jammu & Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020, which was passed by the Lok Sabha yesterday. The bill declares 5 languages as official languages of the Union Territory.
However, English will continue to be used in the union territory for those administrative and legislative purposes for which it was being used before the commencement of the Act. Urdu has been the official language of Jammu and Kashmir prior to this Bill.
The Bill declares 5 languages as the official languages to be used for the official purposes of the union territory, from such date as the Administrator of the union territory may notify for transaction of Business in the Legislative Assembly of the union territory –
Kashmiri
Dogri
Urdu
Hindi
English
There were several demands to make Punjabi as an official language of the UT as it is a widely spoken language among the locals there.
