New Delhi, February 7: The Indian Railways on Friday rejected media reports claiming Urdu language signboards to be replaced with Sanskrit ones at stations. The Indian Railways also issued a statement regarding this. The public sector undertaking in a statement said that it had neither replaced the Urdu language from any station nor has any intention to do so, but it might use Sanskrit as an additional language on signboards. Uttarakhand: Sanskrit Signboards to Replace Urdu Ones at Railway Stations.

The Indian Railways said, “Indian Railways has neither replaced the Urdu .language from any station nor has any intention to do so presently. Sanskrit may be used as additional language apart from existing languages in signboards at stations, will not replace the Urdu language wherever it exists.” World Sanskrit Day 2019: Date, History and Significance About Sanskrit Diwas That Celebrates The Ancient Indian Language.

Last month, reports surfaced that railway authorities in Uttarakhand had decided to replace the Urdu language on signboards at railway stations with Sanskrit, which is the second language of the hill state. At present, the signboards at the railway stations have names of stations written in Hindi, English and Urdu.

The Times of India report claimed that railway stations which would be changed from Urdu to Sanskrit, include Dehradun, Haridwar, Roorkee, Laksar, Raiwala, Doiwala and Rishikesh. In 2010, Uttarakhand had become the first state in India to give Sanskrit the status of second official language. Later, in 1019, Himachal Pradesh followed Uttarakhand and adopted Sanskrit as its second official language.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 07, 2020 08:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).