The adoption of Odia language by government officials for official communication in Odisha appears to be progressing slowly, despite the Odisha Official Language (Amendment) Bill 2018. While initially, officials had begun using Odia for official communication, the pace has considerably slowed down over time. Critics claim that the lack of clearly defined penal provisions for non-compliance has led to this laxity among employees. Additionally, the government is not leveraging available translation tools effectively. While the Supreme Court and the Orissa High Court have made strides in using Odia and other regional languages, the state government’s departments seem to lag behind. Concerns persist about the future of Odia language usage in governance, as efforts to promote it face resistance and apathy among officials.
