Only Gujarati makes building good for use!

Times of India: Ahmedabad: Sunday, December 21, 2014.

What has an establishment or residential society's name board got to do with granting building use permission!

Back in 2010 the state urban development department had made it mandatory for all boards put up on commercial and residential properties announcing the establishment's or society's name should also carry the name in Gujarati.

The notification emphasized that building use permission (BU) should be granted to buildings only after a town planning department official confirms on the spot that the owner has put up a board in Gujarati!

This diktat came from none other than the urban development department principal secretary BK Sinha. The notification dates back to December 6, 2010 and was marked to municipal commissioners of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot. How far this notification has been implemented is a case for inquiry.

Sinha had insisted in this notification that strict disciplinary action be taken against responsible town planning department official who fails to comply by the order.

This notification was brought to light by an RTI application filed by Pankaj Bhatt recently when he had sought the criteria for granting building use permission to establishments.

"This was an impractical and bizarre notification brought out at the insistence of the former urban development minister Nitin Patel. How does the government expect municipal corporations to visit 10,000 societies and 12 lakh commercial establishments to ensure that their boards are in Gujarati. There has to be some thought that should go into notifications," says RTI applicant Pankaj Bhatt. It added that if the establishment had an English name board, it should compulsorily place a board in Gujarati alongside with large fonts.