A new law that provides for the inclusion of Kashmiri, Dogri and Hindi in the list of official languages in Jammu and Kashmir, in addition to Urdu and English, has been notified after President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent.
The Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Act, 2020, received assent of the President on September 26, according to a gazette notification.
The Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020 was passed by Rajya Sabha through voice vote. Lok Sabha had cleared the legislation on September 23.
Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy had said in Parliament that it was a long-standing demand of the people of Jammu and Kashmir that the language they speak should be included in the list of official languages.
Earlier, Sikh and Gujjar communities have protested the exclusion of Punjabi and Gojri languages from the bill.