Bangladesh changes English spellings of five districts

The government has changed the English spellings of five districts to make them sound similar to the Bangla alphabet.

The new spellings are Chattogram (for Chittagong), Barishal (for Barisal), Cumilla (for Comilla), Jashore (for Jessore) and Bogura (for Bogra).

The National Implementation Committee for Administrative Reorganisation-Reform or NICAR approved the spellings at a meeting on Monday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina headed the meeting at her office, said NM Ziaul Alam, secretary of co-ordination and reforms at the Cabinet Division.

“Spellings of some districts date back to the British era. They needed to be changed,” he told reporters.

NICAR works to reorganise districts, sub-districts, police stations, form new ministries, divisions, form and reform different administrative units with the prime minister as its convener.