Open Knowledge Revolution: Punjabi Wikimedians Urge Punjab Govt to Free Taxpayer-Funded Content Under Open Licenses
Patiala, 22 March
During a Wikipedia training workshop jointly organized by the Punjabi Wikimedians User Group and the World Punjabi Centre at Punjabi University, Patiala, a formal memorandum was submitted to the chief guest, Tejinder Mehta, Chairman of the District Planning Committee, Patiala.
The inaugural session was presided over by Dr. Bhim Inder Singh, Director of the World Punjabi Centre. Special guests included eminent translator Charan Gill, Dr. Pawan Tibba (Principal, Northern Regional Languages Centre), and noted writer Balram Bodhi.
Aman Arora, Media Advisor of the Punjabi Wikimedians User Group, stated that the memorandum—presented by senior Wikimedians Satdeep Gill, Nitesh Gill, and Group Coordinator Kuldeep Burj Bhalaike—calls upon the Punjab Government to exempt all content created using public funds from copyright restrictions and release it under open licenses.
The group stressed that in the era of Artificial Intelligence, the preservation, growth, and global promotion of the Punjabi language heavily depend on making digital knowledge freely and widely available. Since books, research papers, official reports, educational materials, and other such content are produced with taxpayers’ money, they should be regarded as a shared public heritage freely accessible to students, researchers, scholars, and the general public.
The memorandum pointed out that states like Tamil Nadu and Odisha have already adopted similar open-access policies, in line with the Government of India’s Open Data License Policy. The Punjabi Wikimedians User Group committed that, if the demand is accepted, they will take the lead in digitizing and uploading this content to various Wikimedia Foundation projects, thereby significantly enriching Punjabi-language resources on the internet.
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Tejinder Mehta responded positively to the proposal and assured the group that he would personally advocate for this policy change with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and other relevant authorities.
In his presidential remarks, Dr. Bhim Inder Singh strongly supported the idea, stating that knowledge must remain open rather than restricted in order to accelerate the digital growth and global reach of the Punjabi language. He reaffirmed the World Punjabi Centre’s full commitment to promoting and implementing open licenses in government and educational institutions.
Charan Gill further emphasized the critical role of volunteer-driven Wikimedia projects in rapidly expanding the repository of high-quality Punjabi digital content in today’s fast-evolving digital landscape.
