'Bangla Pokkho' rally to protest govt order notifying Hindi, Urdu as language in WBCS exam

'We demand Bengali be made the mandatory language in writing WBCS exams on the lines of the yardstick followed in other states', organisation's general secretary said.

Kolkata: Members of a pro-Bengali advocacy group 'Bangla Pokkho' took out a rally in the city on Sunday in protest against the order of the state government notifying Hindi and Urdu as a recognised language in the West Bengal Civil Services Examination (WBCS).

The organisation's general secretary Garga Chattopadhyay said, "We demand Bengali be made the mandatory language in writing WBCS exams on the lines of the yardstick followed in other states.

"If knowing Marathi is mandatory for sitting in the state civil service examinations in Maharashtra, if knowing Hindi is mandatory for writing the papers in civil service exams in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, why should the WBCS aspirants in West Bengal get away by not knowing Bengali?," he asked at the end of the rally.

The rally started at Rabindra Sadan Exide Crossing and terminated at Hazra More.

Chattopadhyay said a bigger movement will be launched before 2026 if the state government does not issue a notifications as demanded by them to make it mandatory to pass the Bengali language paper of 300 marks to clear the WBCS examination.