Language controversy : GC College Principal admits technical fault in recent recruitment notification; Says new notification issued

On 27th December, 2022 Gurucharan College published a recruitment notification for the post of Library Assistant/Junior Assistant. What caught the eye of everyone was the fact that one of the recruitment criterias for candidates was mentioned as having working knowledge in Assamese/English typing in MS word and simple Excel. This received bitter reactions from all quarters in Barak Valley as they wondered how could an established College located in the heart of Silchar town disobey the amended language act of Assam which provided provision for the usage of Bengali as an official language in all the three districts of the Valley. 

Two students of Silchar, Subhasish Choudhury and Snehal Chakraborty met the Principal of GC College today and took up this matter with him. The Principal told that the issue was previously unknown to him. He admitted that a technical mistake was made and that they have already rectified the notification and issued a new advertisement which will be published in the local newspaper.

Speaking to reporters Subhasish Choudhury said, “Yesterday night it came to our notice that a recruitment notification in several posts was released by GC College. In one of the requirements it was stated that working knowledge in Assamese/English language for typing in MS Word and MS Excel is mandatory. This is a gross violation of Assam Official Language Amendment Act, 1960 which mandates that Bengali language would be considered for official works in Barak Valley alongwith English. So today we met the Principal Sir and he told us that a lapse or glitch was made while publishing the notification. He has already told to rectify the advertisement and publish it in the newspaper again. We’re also hopeful that no government institution in Barak Valley will publish any notification in future violating the Assam Official Language Amendment Act, 1960.”

Snehal Chakraborty told reporters, “It has been seen that there are a section of people who want to tarnish the image of GC College and are just waiting for an opportunity to demean it. It is expected from the general public to condemn such an incident as 11 language martyrs gave up their lives protecting the dignity of Bengali language. The language movement started from our college. Despite this if any government department in the Valley tells knowledge of Assamese is mandatory it hurts us. Hence it was prudent on part of us to meet Principal sir today. He said that he was unaware about the incident and it was a technical fault on part of the college. He has already told to rectify the notification and a fresh advertisement will be issued in the local newspaper. GC College is an educational institution and there should be no politics on it.”

Notably, a memorandum was handed over by the Barak Democratic Youth Front after meeting the Principal of Gurucharan College in this regard. Youth Front Chief Convener Kalparnab Gupta, Convener Debayan Dev, Convener Nabarun Dey Choudhury, BDF Media Cell Convener Joydeep Bhattacharjee and Hrishikesh Dey were present on the occassion. The Principal informed them that this error was unintentional and a new advertisement will be republished in the newspaper after rectification.

It maybe mentioned that the Assam Official Language Act, 1960 passed by the Legislative Assembly has provided safeguard to Bengali language in Barak Valley by stating that “Notwithstanding anything in Section 3, the Bengali language shall be used for administrative and other official purposes upto and including the district level in the district of Cachar.” At the time of enacting this official language act, Barak Valley consisted of only Cachar district which was later trifurcated into Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts.