Translating a Zilla Parishad Notice into Marathi
You work in the establishment section of a zilla parishad office in Nashik. The English notice below must be issued in Marathi on the office noticeboard and website today: Applicants are informed that the last date for submission of self-attested copies of documents for the post of Junior Clerk is 30 September, 5:00 p.m. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered. Candidates must bring original documents for verification. The office style uses formal Marathi, not Hindi. A senior clerk suggests replacing self-attested with simply attested, and changing deadline to last date. You must keep the legal effect: late applications are rejected, and photocopies must be self-attested. The notice will be read by candidates with different levels of education. You have 20 minutes before the office closes.
1. Translate the notice into formal Marathi suitable for a zilla parishad noticeboard. Keep the legal effect of the English text.
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Marathi draft: अर्जदारांना सूचित करण्यात येते की, कनिष्ठ लिपिक पदासाठी कागदपत्रांच्या स्वयं-प्रमाणित प्रती सादर करण्याची अंतिम तारीख ३० सप्टेंबर, दुपारी ५:०० वाजता आहे. मुदतीनंतर प्राप्त झालेल्या अर्जांचा विचार केला जाणार नाही. उमेदवारांनी पडताळणीसाठी मूळ कागदपत्रे सोबत आणणे आवश्यक आहे. I used अर्जदार for applicants because they are the persons submitting applications, and उमेदवार for candidates at the verification stage. स्वयं-प्रमाणित is the standard term for self-attested. मुदतीनंतर प्राप्त झालेल्या अर्जांचा विचार केला जाणार नाही preserves the rejection of late applications more firmly than a soft phrase such as उशिरा आल्यास संपर्क करावा. I kept the date and time in figures for the noticeboard, with दुपारी to make 5:00 p.m. unambiguous.
2. A senior clerk suggests replacing self-attested with attested and deadline with last date. Which change would you accept, and why is the other dangerous?
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I would accept last date as a translation of deadline, because अंतिम तारीख and मुदत both convey the final date and neither changes the legal requirement. I would not accept attested for self-attested. In office usage, attested often means attested by a notary, gazetted officer or another authorised person, while self-attested means the candidate signs each photocopy. Replacing the term could mislead candidates into paying for notarisation or, worse, cause the office to reject copies that are only self-attested. If the office fears that candidates will not understand स्वयं-प्रमाणित, I would add a short bracket: प्रत्येक प्रतीवर उमेदवाराची सही असावी, meaning each copy should bear the candidate's signature. That explains the term without changing it. A translation may simplify grammar, but it must not simplify a legal condition.
3. If the same notice had to be issued in Hindi, what would you change and what would you keep? Give a short Hindi rendering of the first two sentences.
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Hindi draft: आवेदकों को सूचित किया जाता है कि कनिष्ठ लिपिक पद के लिए दस्तावेजों की स्वयं-प्रमाणित प्रतियाँ जमा करने की अंतिम तिथि 30 सितंबर, शाम 5:00 बजे है। निर्धारित तिथि के बाद प्राप्त आवेदनों पर विचार नहीं किया जाएगा। I would change the lexical choices: आवेदक for अर्जदार, अंतिम तिथि for अंतिम तारीख, and विचार नहीं किया जाएगा for विचार केला जाणार नाही. I would keep the structure and the legal effect: the date, the 5:00 p.m. time, the self-attestation requirement and the rejection of late applications. I would not mix Marathi and Hindi forms in one notice, and I would not translate self-attested as simply प्रमाणित. For a Hindi notice, स्वयं-प्रमाणित is clear; if the office prefers सत्यापित, that word should be explained in the same bracket.