Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ বাংলা আকাদেমি, pronounced [pɔʃtʃimbɔŋɡo baŋla akad̪emi]) is the official regulatory body of the Bengali language in India. It was founded on 20 May 1986 in Kolkata to act as the official authority of the language and is entrusted with the responsibility of reforming Bengali spelling and grammar, compiling dictionaries, encyclopedias and terminologies and promoting Bengali language and culture in West Bengal. They are widely accepted by the Governments of West Bengal and Tripura as well as a considerable number of private publishing houses and institutions such as the Oxford University Press and the Ramakrishna Mission. The institute is housed in two separate buildings, one is Nandan-Rabindra Sadan Complex in South Kolkata and the other Rabindra-Okakura Complex at Bidhannagar. Annadashankar Roy became the first President and Sanat Kumar Chattopadhyay the first secretary of the academy. Pashchimbanga Bangla Akademi has been successful in extending its activities and programs to different districts of West Bengal and even to other states in India. In Kolkata, The organization hosts different programs in collaboration with such bodies like Bengal literature council and National Academy of Letters.
History
Origins
Bengal Academy of Literature, the first academic association to regulate and promote Bengali language and literature was set up in Kolkata under the chairmanship of Benoy Krishna Dev in 1893. In April 1894, the academy was reorganized and rechristened as Bangiya Sahitya Parishad, and Romesh Chunder Dutt became the first president of it. Scholars like Chandranath Bose, Dwijendranath Tagore, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Prafulla Chandra Roy, Satyendranath Tagore, Haraprasad Shastri, Ramendra Sundar Trivedi later served the Parishad as presidents. Rabindranth Tagore (Vice-president: 1894–96, 1901, 1905–1909, 1917; Special Delegate: 1910) himself was closely associated to the institution since its inception. Bangiya Sahitya Parishad is the first academic institution on matters pertaining to Bengali language. It endeavored to compile standard Bengali dictionary, grammar and terminologies, both philosophical and scientific, to collect and publish old and medieval Bengali manuscripts, and to carry out translation from other language into Bengali and research on history, philosophy and science. During the 20th century, the affairs concerning the promotion of Bengali language did not remain a sole responsibility of Bangiya Sahitya Parishad. As language prospered and literature enriched, a need of linguistic reform as well as an authority to enforce the reforms was felt by the scholars of the time. In the late 1930s, Rabindranath Tagore asked the University of Calcutta to determine the rules of Bengali spelling and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the then Vice-Chancellor of the university, set up a committee to look over the subject in November 1935. In May 1936, a standard rule for Bengali spelling was first imposed. These rules were later amended by Rabindranath Tagore and other scholars and practiced at academic level in all over Bengal for next 70 years. After the partition of Bengal in 1947, the Bangla Academy in Dhaka was established in 1955 by then governor of East Pakistan A. K. Fazlul Huq. In 1990, the Bangla Academy enforced new regulations for Bengali spelling. In West Bengal, various prominent institutions backed the process of development of the language, but that resulted in inconsistencies in it. For example, Rajsekhar Basu and Ananda Bazaar Patrika tried to simplify Bengali spelling; but instead of rationalizing the spelling system, it aroused controversy over the authority of such bodies. Even institutions like Visva-Bharati University failed in the task. In 1962, the Government of West Bengal started using Bengali for all official purposes. Since then, a need for an official regulator of the language has been felt. In 1986, with the general consent of Bengali intellectuals of the time, the Government of West Bengal inaugurated the Pashchimbanga Bangla Akademi as a wing of the Information and Cultural Affairs Department of the was set up. Afterward it was converted into a society and registered under Societies Registration Act. On 8 December 1994, it was declared an autonomous governmental body.
Structure and function
The academy is the official authority on Bengali language in West Bengal; although its recommendations carry no legal power, but still the educational boards and the universities of West Bengal and Tripura have deep regard for its rulings. The institution furthermore accomplishes all its activities in close liaison with other academic and educational institutions including universities engaged in various aspects of Bengali language, literature and culture across India. Apart from its own programs, it also arranges programs in cooperation with different such societies. Such activities are not confined to Kolkata only, but also in districts and sub-divisions, even in the other states. At the time of its foundation, the academy had 30 members in its Karma Samiti (Working Committee) and 78 in General Council including the government delegation. The chairman is called Sabhapati and Vice-Chairman is called Saha-Sabhapati. Members, officially known as Sadasyas, remain in the academy for life. However, any member can resign from his office by his will. In 2007, after the Nandigram massacre, some of academy members including Sankha Ghosh and Ashru Kumar Sikdar resigned from the academy. There is also a post of Secretary, or Sachib, who is the chief governmental delegation at the Akademi. The office of the Secretary of the academy is held by Sanat Kumar Chattopadhyay since its inception. The members of the first Working Committee were was established immediately after the foundation with Annadashankar Roy was the inaugural president of the academy. The committee consisted of 25 bureaucrats including, Leela Majumdar and Bhabatosh Dutta.
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