Assam Assembly Adds Hindi as Fourth Language for Proceedings; Budget Session from July 6

The Assam Legislative Assembly has decided to introduce Hindi as a language for its proceedings, alongside the existing Assamese, English, and Bodo languages. The decision was taken during a General Purpose Committee meeting on Saturday, chaired by Speaker Ranjeet Kumar Dass.

Speaker Dass stated that the move recognises Hindi as a national language of India. He said, 'Earlier, three languages - Assamese, English and Bodo - were here, and for the first time, the Hindi language has been introduced. Hindi is Rashtra Bhasha, and to recognise it, we have decided to introduce the Hindi language.'

The new language will be used from July 6, the first day of the budget session of the 16th Assam Legislative Assembly. The session will last 21 working days until July 31, with the state budget to be presented on July 10.

In addition, the assembly's television channel, previously named ALA (Assam Legislative Assembly), will be renamed 'Assam Vidhan Sabha TV' starting Monday. The Speaker expressed the goal of making the channel comparable to Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV.

The meeting was attended by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pijush Hazarika, Minister Keshab Mahanta, Opposition Leader Wazed Ali Chowdhury, and several MLAs. Speaker Dass also mentioned that 10 new bills have been introduced for the upcoming session.

Separately, Speaker Dass commented on the recent visit of the Japanese Prime Minister to India, saying Assam will benefit from the visit. He also noted the state's GST collection growth, attributing it to both government efforts and taxpayer compliance.