CHAPTER XVII

 

EDITORIAL AND TRANSLATION SECTIONS

 

 

17.1        Introduction- To ensure compliance of the Official Language Act 1963 and Rules framed thereunder, the Editorial and Translation Service caters to the translation needs of the entire Secretariat. The preparation of Synopsis (in English and Hindi) and the editing of the Debates to produce the Official Reports and its Hindi version, the procedure regarding which is given in Chapter X is also done by this Service. Some of the work has already been explained in other chapters in the context of preparation of the Hindi Language version of the relevant documents but is being presented here to give a comprehensive view.

           

The Editorial and Translation Service consists of the following seven Sections:

 

i)                     Translation Section-I

ii)                   Translation Section-II

iii)                  Translation (Committee) Section

iv)                 Editing (English) Section

v)                   Editing (Hindi) Section

vi)                 Synopsis Section

vii)                Rajbhasha Prabhag

 

The details of the work handled in each of the Section is given below, though as explained above, much of it appears as paragraphs in various chapters.

 

Part A: Translation -I

 

17.2            Responsibilities of the Section-

 

i)                     To provide translation from English to Hindi and vice versa (except Questions and Committee reports);

ii)                   Preparation of List of Business in Hindi; and

iii)                  Preparation of Parliamentary Bulletins Part-I & II in Hindi.

 

17.3        Procedures- In the preliminary stage, an entry number is recorded in the 'Register of receipt of translation work' at the time of receipt of an item in the Section in strict order of its receipt and a number is marked thereon.

 

Register of  receipt of Translation Work

 

Date

S. No.

Item of work

Received from (Section)

Time of Receipt

Allocated to

Time of receipt back after translation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thereafter the item of work is placed before the Editor and in his absence the senior most Assistant Editor present at that point of time for marking to individual translators. Entry is made in the Register in the appropriate column.

 

 

 

 

            After the translator completes the draft translation, the translated, matter is vetted by the Assistant Editor. The matter is then marked for typing in Hindi or English, as the case may be, to individual typists. This is followed by comparison of the typed matter with that of the manuscript by the concerned translator/s who had translated the matter earlier. A separate Log Book is maintained by each typist as follows:

 

Log Book

(Maintained by Each Typist)

 

S. No.

Date

Time

of receipt

No. of pages Received

Time of completion of Work

Remarks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the final stage the Editor goes over it to ensure the correctness of the documents/papers before sending the same back to the originating Sections. The Senior Editor and the Chief Editor are also consulted if necessary and are apprised of the progress of the work being handled in the Section.

 

17.4        Hindi version of List of Business and List of Papers to be laid- The List of Business and List of Papers to be laid are required to be sent in CRC form in both English and Hindi version to the Printing Section. Since normally the English version is readied earlier and the Hindi version gets delayed because translation work starts only after receipt of advance copy from Committee Section-I and Table Office and paper laying constitutes the bulk of the text of the List of Business the following procedure will be scrupulously followed:

 

i)                     Table Office/Committee Section I will accept papers for laying at least 3 clear working days in advance of the laying date.

ii)                   The two Sections will ensure that the papers received conform to requirements etc. well in time and return all papers to the originating Ministry in case of defects. This will be done at least 2 clear working days before the day of laying.

iii)                  Committee Section-I will send the list of papers to be laid to Table Office simultaneously sending a copy to Translation Section (accompanied by Hindi version of the documents as heretofore) one and a half days in advance, i.e. by 12.00 noon (instead of the evening, as per previous practice), leaving the afternoon and one clear day for translation and finalising the List of Papers to be Laid.

iv)           Table Office will finalise the papers to be laid as a separate document one clear day in advance and send the printed out list through peon book so as to reach Translation Section by 6.00 p.m. the same day. For example, papers for laying on 20th of a month will be sent to Translation Section by Committee Section-I by 12.00 noon of 18th of that month and by Table Office by 6.00 p.m. on 18th i.e., the same day. Electronic copy will be sent by Table Office by email to Translation Section as per existing procedure, during the day itself. Copy of the email will also be sent to Computer Centre (nic64g) and Joint Secretary in charge of Table Office simultaneously.

v)            Computer Centre will use the email to place the electronic document of the papers to be laid on the table on to the Website as a separate document under the heading ‘Papers to be Laid’.

vi)                 The Translation Section will complete the translation of the paper laying work as a separate document latest by 5.00 p.m. the following day, i.e. the 19th in the example. Principal Chief Editor will also bring to notice of Joint Secretary in case the papers are not received from Table Office in time. Copies in Hindi of the print out of list of papers to be laid will be sent by Translation Section through the Principal Chief Editor and Joint Secretary to Secretary-General and to Table Office by 6.00 p.m.

vii)                Table Office will transmit to Translation Section the advance copy of Revised List of Business (RLOB) as soon as Government Business for the concerned day is intimated.  The Hindi RLOB will be finalised as soon as final RLOB is received from Table Office.

viii)              It is expected that with this procedure the Hindi List of Papers to be Laid will be finalised by 6.00 pm and the Hindi RLOB will be finalized latest by 11.00 p.m. If there is delay beyond this time, Principal Chief Editor will intimate to the Secretary-General the reasons in writing the next morning through the Joint Secretary.

 

In order to streamline the management of this process in Translation Section, the following will be ensured:-

 

i)                          While the matter of completion of List of Papers to be Laid and List of Business will primarily be the responsibility of Assistant Editors, at least one Senior Editor/Editor will sit by roster daily after 6.00 p.m. to supervise and coordinate matters till the List of Papers to be laid, RLOB and Bulletins Part-I and Part-II for circulation the next day are finalized and sent to Printing Section for transmission to the Government Press.

ii)                         Necessary coordination must be maintained with Printing Section so that proof-reading is done even in piecemeal during the day, by sending portions of the manuscript/print out as and when ready. Printing Section will note the time of receipt and return of the material on the material itself.

 

Computers and telephones will be used to the maximum possible extent to avoid delay. Before CRC copies of the List of Papers to be laid and List of Business are sent to Printing Section, the Translation Section-I will ensure that-

 

i)                     the English and Hindi versions conform to the styling and appearance/pattern required for the document,

ii)                   the page numbers have been properly given; and

iii)                  the Hindi and English version tally in terms of items and the Sl. Nos.

 

 Translation Section-I staff will leave office only after clearance from Printing Section that the CRC conforms to the required standard. Before leaving, the Business and Bulletins as finalized will be emailed as attachments to the Government Press and also to NIC for placement on the Hindi Website. Copies of the email will be sent to Principal Chief Editor and Joint Secretaries concerned.

 

In case the list of papers for laying is unusually long (say over 20 pages) Table Office/Committee Section-I will inform Translation Section-I well in time (in the forenoon of the second day) so that arrangements can be made to dispose off part of the work the same evening. The Translation Section will ensure that requisite number of typists etc are arranged, and will keep Chief Editor informed. Translation Section-I will keep Printing Section informed of all problems faced in preparing CRC copies.

 

17.5        Parliamentary Bulletin Part-I- As already given in Chapter IX, Bulletin Part-I containing a brief record of the proceedings and decisions of the House for each sitting is issued at the end of each sitting. Paragraphs are prepared in respect of all the items listed in the List of Business giving in brief the proceedings in respect of the item. The draft is sent to Translation Section-I, which, using the electronic material available from the Hindi version of the List of Business (particularly with regard to Laying of Papers) completes the translation and prepares the draft CRC.

 

After approval of the Secretary-General the Table Office sends one copy of the finalized Bulletin to Translation Section-I which checks the final version and carries out last minutes changes before printing out the CRC and sending it to Printing Section. A copy of the English and Hindi versions are Emailed to the Govt. Press and also to NIC (Rajya Sabha) by Table Office and Translation Section-I respectively, the same day, for placement on Internet.

 

 

 

 

17.6        Co-ordination work for Bulletin Part-II- Bulletin Part-II comprises items of information of a general and routine nature useful to Members in the discharge of their parliamentary duties on matters not relating to actual proceedings in the House. It is issued in both English and Hindi versions, whenever necessary during the session and during the inter-session period.

 

Approved paragraphs in English and Hindi are required to be sent by the Sections concerned at least one day in advance with a brief note indicating the date on which the paragraph is to be published in Bulletin Part-II. For this purpose Sections while sending the CRC to Table Office along with Floppy/Email, also send a copy to Translation Section-I, which completes the translation, obtains the Bulletin number from the Table Office and composes the CRC of the Hindi version. A copy of Email of English and Hindi version are also emailed to the Govt. Press and to NIC (Rajya Sabha) by Table Office and Translation Section respectively for placement on Internet.

 

The consolidated and final manuscript of the Bulletin (in English and Hindi) is sent to the Printing Section by 11.00 p.m. for preparing printed copies during session period and before 6.00 p.m. during inter-session period. At the end of the year, the Bulletins issued during the year are got bound and kept in Table Office and Translation Section-I for record and reference.