Santali is an additional official language of Jharkhand • Your records still travel in English • One English spelling, everywhere

Santali Name in Ol Chiki and English on Documents

This is a different problem from a surname spelt two ways, and it needs a different answer. Your name may live in Ol Chiki, the script Pandit Raghunath Murmu created in 1925, and Santali is an additional official language of Jharkhand. That recognition is real. What it does not do is change the practical fact that your certificates, your Aadhaar and your recruitment file are read in English, and Santali is also written in Devanagari, Odia and Bengali script, so one family can end up with several English spellings of one name. This page is about choosing one English form and making every record carry it.

📞 Call 9540005002 WhatsApp 9540005064 Choosing one English form

1925The year Ol Chiki was created

30Letters in the script

22Scheduled languages, Santali among them

1English spelling you should carry

Reviewed by the Jharkhandnamechange.com documentation desk • Updated 20 September 2026

Quick answer

Two things are true at once, and most confusion comes from holding only one of them. The first is that Santali has real standing. It is one of the scheduled languages of the Constitution, added to the Eighth Schedule along with Bodo, Dogri and Maithili by the Ninety-second Amendment, which came into force on 7 January 2004 and took the list from 18 languages to 22. It is the additional official language of Jharkhand and West Bengal. Its own script, Ol Chiki, was invented by Pandit Raghunath Murmu in 1925, has 30 letters, and is now treated as the official script for Santali across West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand. None of that is a small thing and nobody should tell you your name is irregular. The second truth is practical. Your paperwork still travels in English. Your certificates, your Aadhaar, a recruitment verification and a scrutiny file are read in English, and Santali is also written in Devanagari, Odia, Bengali script and a Latin alphabet, so the same name can reach paper through several routes and come out spelt several ways. Add to that the sounds Santali has that English has no single letter for, and one family ends up with three English spellings of one name, none of them a forgery. So the job on this page is not to pick a script. It is to settle one English spelling and make every record carry exactly that. That is a correction, not a change of name, and it is the cheapest route there is.

Start with the facts

Santali and Ol Chiki: The Official Position, Stated Plainly

Santali name in Ol Chiki and its English transliteration on documents in Jharkhand — The language has standing. The paperwork still travels in English. Both are true.

Know these before you walk into any office, because they change the tone of the conversation. You are not asking for a favour and your name is not an exception.

The official position on Santali and the Ol Chiki script
The fact	What it rests on
Santali is a scheduled language of the Constitution	Added to the Eighth Schedule with Bodo, Dogri and Maithili by the Ninety-second Amendment, in force 7 January 2004, taking the list from 18 to 22
Santali is the additional official language of Jharkhand	And of West Bengal. This is state-level recognition, not a courtesy
Ol Chiki is its script	Invented by Pandit Raghunath Murmu in 1925, with 30 letters, now treated as the official script for Santali across West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand
Santali is also written in other scripts	Devanagari, Odia, Bengali script and a Latin alphabet, which matters a great deal for how your name reached paper

Now the honest limit, because this is where people are misled. Recognition of a language is not the same as a certificate being issued in that script. We have not verified that any Jharkhand certificate, marksheet, Aadhaar record or caste certificate is issued with the holder's name written in Ol Chiki, and we will not tell you it is. So plan on the basis that the English form of your name is the one that travels, gets compared at counters, and decides whether a file moves. If an office does offer you the script, that is a bonus, not the plan.

What the recognition is genuinely good for. It ends the argument that a Santali name is somehow informal or irregular. If a clerk treats your name as a problem to be tidied up, you can say plainly that Santali is a scheduled language and an additional official language of this state, and that you are asking for the spelling of your own name to be recorded consistently, not for a special favour. That single sentence changes most conversations.

How this plays out at a Scheduled Tribe verification, where a vigilance officer reads your school record and examines your parents, is set out on our tribal surname mismatch in an ST certificate page, and the general spelling position on name spelling correction in Jharkhand.

Where the spellings come from

Why One Santali Name Reaches Paper in Several English Spellings

Families often assume somebody was careless. Usually nobody was. Understand the route your name travelled and the whole thing stops feeling like a mistake you have to apologise for.

The four routes that turn one Santali name into several English spellings
The cause	What it does to your papers
Santali is written in more than one script	Ol Chiki, and also Devanagari, Odia, Bengali script and a Latin alphabet. A record made through Devanagari and one made through Ol Chiki can reach English by different paths and land on different letters
Santali sounds have no single English letter	So two reasonable clerks pick two reasonable letters. Neither is wrong, and this is the commonest single cause we see
The name was written by ear	At a school admission, at a hospital, at a block office. What the clerk heard went onto the form, and nobody checked it against the previous record
Different decades, different offices	A birth record, a school admission form and a certificate written years apart by three different hands. That is how one family holds three spellings and not one forged paper
The family moved between states	Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha all write Santali, in different regional scripts. A record made in one state can come out spelt differently in another

Say this in your applications, in one line. That your name is Santali, that Santali is written in several scripts, and that the differences in your records are transliteration, not a change of name. That single sentence puts the request on the correction track instead of the change of name track, and those two tracks cost very different amounts. We set out the test on our correction against change of name page.

One thing this page does not cover. If the name on one paper is a genuinely different name, and not the same name written differently, then a transliteration argument will not help you and you should not try it. Be honest with yourself about which one you are holding. A name your family actually changed is a change of name, and pretending otherwise wastes months at an office that will work it out.

The actual decision

Choosing One English Spelling of a Santali Name, and Making It Stick

This is the whole job. Not which script your name belongs in, which is a matter for your family and your community, but which English form every office will see. Decide it once, on paper, and then never reopen it.

How to Decide, in Order

Look at the Class 10 certificate first

Whatever English spelling it carries leads, because it is the hardest record in your life to change and the one every other record is compared against.

Count which spelling most papers already carry

Every document that already agrees is one you never have to touch. Every one that disagrees is an application and a wait.

Check the parents' documents

A panel compares your father's name on your certificate with his own papers. His spelling has to be settled with yours, not after.

Write the chosen form out letter by letter

Including spacing. Put it on one sheet of paper and keep it in the folder, so nobody in the family guesses again.

Keep the script form beside it, for your own use

If your family writes the name in Ol Chiki, keep that written down too. It is your record of what the English form is standing for.

Do not reopen it because an office suggested otherwise

Deciding twice is the most expensive thing on this page. Every correction is an application, a wait and usually a charge.

The habit that ends this for the next generation. Use one English spelling of the family name on every form, from a child's first school admission onwards, whatever script the family uses at home. Almost every expensive case we handle for an adult in Jharkhand started with two clerks, two reasonable choices and nobody writing the decision down. You cannot undo that for yourself. You can stop it repeating for your children.

Where the affidavit route helps and where it does not. A one and the same person affidavit, stating plainly that both English spellings refer to you, is accepted by banks, employers and colleges. It is usually refused by boards, passport counters, recruitment panels and the Aadhaar system for a major change, because it is your own statement. So find out which office you actually need to satisfy before paying for one. The wording is on our name change affidavit page.

And where a gazette genuinely comes in. Only if the English spelling you want is on no document at all. If any properly issued paper already carries it, and with a Santali name one of them usually does, this is a correction at the issuing office, which publishes nothing and costs a fraction of a gazette file. Ask anybody quoting you to rule out the correction route in writing first.

In order

The Order to Settle a Santali Name Spelling in Jharkhand

The first four steps cost nothing and they decide whether you ever pay for anything.

Put every document on one table

Yours and your parents'. Birth record, admission form, Class 10 certificate, Scheduled Tribe certificate, Aadhaar, PAN, voter card, bank papers.

Write each English spelling in a list

One line per document, letter by letter. Most families see the real pattern only when it is written out like this.

Decide the one English form and write it down

Class 10 first, then the count, then the parents. Decide once, record the decision, and tell whoever fills forms for the children.

Check whether that spelling is already on a document

It nearly always is, and that makes this a correction rather than a change of name, which is far cheaper.

Get the school admission register page

Ask in writing for an attested copy. This is the paper a vigilance officer reads, so read it before anybody else does.

Correct the heaviest records first

School record, then the Scheduled Tribe certificate, then the birth record. Work outwards from the oldest.

Move the parents' records at the same time

Not afterwards. A father spelt differently on his own papers is a listed recruitment rejection reason.

Update the Aadhaar and PAN last

Always last. They are matched against the school record, so correcting them first creates the mismatch you were removing.

Keep one folder for the whole family

Every corrected record, every application with its received stamp, and the written decision on the English form.

Do not start any of this during a pending verification. If a recruitment check, an admission or a scrutiny is already running, the calendar is no longer yours, and changing a paper midway is how a short file becomes a long one. Settle the pending process first with the records as they stand, then clean everything up properly afterwards. The timing for a recruitment check is on our correction before a JSSC or JPSC verification page. For particular Santal and Oraon clan names the decision is set out on our Hembrom or Hembram, Oraon, Uraon and Oram and Tirkey, Kujur and Minz pages.

The full process

Central Gazette Process for a Santali Name Spelling From Jharkhand, Where a Correction Cannot Do It

Read this before the rest of this section. For a Santali transliteration question this section is almost never yours. If the English spelling you have chosen is already on a document you hold, and with a Santali name one of them usually is, you are in the correction route at the issuing office and nothing below applies. The process is printed here in full for the case where the spelling you want exists on no paper at all, or where a board or a panel asks you for a published notice by name, and so that you recognise at once when a gazette file is being quoted to a family whose answer was one letter at a counter.

No district in Jharkhand has a gazette counter, so the file goes from Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Hazaribagh, Deoghar or anywhere else in the state to the Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054, and the notice publishes in Part IV of the Gazette of India. As reported in July 2025 the Finance Department stopped personal name change notifications from the Jharkhand Government Press with immediate effect, so there is no state alternative to fall back on.

The Eight Steps of a Santali Name Spelling File Sent From Jharkhand

Settle the final name first

Write it out letter by letter, with the spacing you want, and then use exactly that in every paper. A corrigendum after publication is a second fee and a second wait.

Pick the category, then its proforma

For a surname spelling this is almost always the public notice for a wrongly written name, not a change of name, because you are not taking a new name. Twelve categories exist and only one is yours, and picking the wrong one is how files come back.

Type the proforma in duplicate

Two originals, signed in the old spelling, with two witnesses giving signature, full name, address and mobile number on both copies. On a wrongly written name the wrong spelling has to be quoted exactly as it is printed on each certificate named.

Get the affidavit attested at the right level

A notary for the ordinary change of name, and a First Class Magistrate of the concerned area where the different surname guidelines apply. This is the step that catches people out.

Publish and keep the original paper

One of the daily local leading newspapers, carrying both spellings in full, the father's name and the address. The whole original paper goes in the file, not a cutting.

Pay only through BharatKosh

The Non Tax Receipt Portal and nowhere else since October 2018. Select the Department of Publication by name, read the amount the portal shows on the day, pay in your own name and print the e-receipt.

Check every date, then post it yourself

Nothing in the file older than one year. Personally or by post or courier only, never through an agent or advocate. Photocopy everything first, because nothing sent in comes back.

Read the notice, then download it

Check both spellings letter by letter the day it publishes, note the page and issue number, and download the e-Gazette copy of that Part IV issue.

The Five Papers in the File, and What Is Checked in Each

The five papers of a Central Gazette minor's name change file and what the Department checks in each
The paper	What is checked in it, clause by clause
1. The proforma, in duplicate	That it is the right category's format; the existing full name exactly as your documents carry it, surname included; the child's new full name exactly as you settled it; the father's or husband's name; the full address with pin code; the signature in the old name; two witnesses complete with signature, full name, address and mobile number
2. The affidavit or undertaking	Signed by the parent applying; the same names and address as the proforma, word for word; attested at the level the category asks for, which is a First Class Magistrate for the adopting a different surname route; on Rs 100 non-judicial stamp paper as our safe default
3. The original newspaper	The original paper, not a cutting; the paper's name and date of publication visible; both of the child's names carried; the same spelling as the proforma; dated within the last year
4. Photographs, identity proof and any category paper	Two self attested passport photographs of each applicant and the child, which the minor guidelines ask for specifically; identity and address proof matching the proforma address; both witnesses' proofs; and whatever the category itself demands, such as a decree or a no objection certificate where the maiden surname requirement applies
5. The CD, its certificate and the BharatKosh receipt	MS Word, without the witness portion, with the name of the Guardian typed in place of the signature, which is where a minor file differs from an adult one; the certificate that the hard copy and the soft copy are the same; the forwarding letter to the Controller of Publication with a telephone number and email; the e-receipt

The proforma is where files are lost, and there are twelve to choose from. A maiden surname file typed on the ordinary change of name form, or a change of name typed on a surname form, comes back. The Government charge already paid is not refunded, because BharatKosh payments are non-refundable. You then have six months to make good a shortcoming the Department points out, after which a fresh application with all new documents is required.

What to select on BharatKosh, field by field. Pay to the Department of Publication under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and pick the Ministry, the Pay and Accounts Office and the Drawing and Disbursing Officer by their names in the dropdown, never by a code copied off a website. The codes printed for this office on different websites do not agree with each other, and money paid into the wrong head cannot be traced to your file. Read the amount on the portal on the day you pay, because it is revised each financial year.

How to read the published notice before you rely on it. Open the e-Gazette copy and check five things: that it says Part IV; the date of publication; your old full name exactly as your documents carry it, with the surname spelt as it appears there; the child's new name, letter by letter; and the father's or husband's name and address. Then note the page number and the issue number, because that is what an office will quote back to you at verification.

The posting detail is on the sending the file to Delhi page, the wording on the proforma format page, the charge by category on the fee and undertaking page, the reasons files come back on the rejection reasons page, and the download on the download page.

Cost and time

What Settling a Santali Name Spelling Costs in Jharkhand

Cost and time for settling a Santali name spelling across your documents
Item	Cost	Time
Where your chosen English spelling is already on a document, which is nearly always	The issuing office's own charges per record corrected, plus Rs 10 for an RTI application if a school register page has to be obtained that way. No gazette charge at all	A few weeks per office, and they can run in parallel
One and the same person affidavit	Rs 100 non-judicial stamp paper and the notary. Accepted by banks, employers and colleges. Usually refused by boards, passport counters and recruitment panels	The same day
One and the same person affidavit	Rs 100 non-judicial stamp paper and the notary. Accepted by banks, employers and colleges. Usually refused by boards, passport counters and recruitment panels	The same day
Government printing charge	The minor guidelines print Rs 1,700 for a change of name of a minor with effect from 01.04.2016 to 31.03.2017. For comparison the adult guidelines print Rs 1,100 for the same year, and Rs 3,500 for an Indian living abroad. Every category's guidelines add that the charge varies each financial year and from case to case, so treat these as the order of the amount. What BharatKosh shows on the payment screen the day you pay is the figure that counts	Part IV publishes weekly, so allow several weeks from posting
Affidavit	Rs 100 non-judicial stamp paper plus the attestation. A notary is enough for an ordinary public notice. A First Class Magistrate is only for the adopting a different surname route	Notary the same day; a magistrate needs a planned court visit
Newspaper	Paid to the paper, charged by length	Same week
Post or courier to Delhi	Sent in your own name from any district, and keep the receipt	A few days each way
Updating the records afterwards	Aadhaar charges a fee per attempt with no refund, and the other offices have their own small charges	Several weeks across all of them
Our charge	Quoted on your papers before you pay anything, and confirmed in writing. We print no service price on any page of this site

Do not trust a figure printed on any website, including this one, on the day you pay. The Department's own guidelines say the printing charge varies each financial year and from case to case, so the figures above are what the published guidelines show for 2016 to 2017 and are given so you know the order of the amount, not the amount. What BharatKosh shows when you reach the payment screen is the one that counts. Read it there and pay that.

The honest total for a Santali transliteration question is usually small, because one of the English spellings is nearly always already on a paper you hold. What makes it expensive is never the Government. It is a family that decided twice, or that corrected one person and left the others, and then paid for the same work again. Decide the English form once, move the whole family together, and this stays cheap. Our corrigendum page covers a second file, and name change cost the line items in full.

Set the record straight

Myths About Santali Names and the Ol Chiki Script on Documents

Common beliefs about Santali names on documents and what is actually correct
What people are told	What is actually so
A Santali name is informal and needs tidying up	It does not. Santali is a scheduled language of the Constitution and the additional official language of Jharkhand. What you are asking for is your own name recorded consistently, not a favour
Because Ol Chiki is official, certificates will be issued in it	We have not verified that for any Jharkhand certificate and we will not tell you it happens. Recognition of a language is not the same as a record being issued in that script. Plan on the English form travelling
Different spellings mean somebody made a mistake	Usually nobody did. Santali is written in Ol Chiki, Devanagari, Odia, Bengali script and a Latin alphabet, and some sounds have no single English letter. Two reasonable clerks make two reasonable choices
A gazette is needed for any spelling difference	Only where the English spelling you want is on no document at all. If a paper you hold already carries it, this is a correction at the issuing office
An affidavit settles it with everybody	With banks, employers and colleges, generally yes. With boards, passport counters, recruitment panels and Aadhaar for a major change, usually no
Start with the Aadhaar, it is quickest	The wrong end every time. Aadhaar and PAN are matched against the school record, so they follow, they never lead
Fix your own records and you are finished	Not finished. A panel compares your father's name on your certificate with his own documents. Move the family together or you have only moved the problem
Deal with it when the verification raises it	The worst moment, because the calendar stops being yours. Settle it while nothing is pending, which is also when it is cheapest

The sentence worth carrying. That Santali is a scheduled language and an additional official language of Jharkhand, that its script Ol Chiki was created by Pandit Raghunath Murmu in 1925, and that the differences across your papers are transliteration and not a change of name. Said calmly at a counter, that puts the request on the correction track from the first minute.

Plain meanings

Key Terms in a Santali Name Transliteration

Key terms used when settling a Santali name spelling on documents
Term	What it means in practice
Ol Chiki	The script for Santali, created by Pandit Raghunath Murmu in 1925, with 30 letters. Treated as the official script for Santali across West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand
Transliteration	Writing a name from one script into another by sound. The reason one Santali name reaches English as more than one spelling, with nobody at fault
Eighth Schedule	The Constitution's list of languages. Santali was added with Bodo, Dogri and Maithili by the Ninety-second Amendment, in force 7 January 2004, taking the list to 22
Additional official language	Santali's status in Jharkhand and West Bengal. State-level recognition of the language, which is not the same as a certificate being printed in its script
Anchor record	The document everything else is judged against, which in practice is the Class 10 certificate
Admission register	The school's own record of every student's name on admission. Older than the certificate and read during a Scheduled Tribe verification
Correction	Putting a record right against a document you already hold. Cheap, quick, publishes nothing, and it is what a transliteration difference nearly always is
Change of name	Taking a name no record carries. Rarely what a Santali spelling question actually is, whatever you are quoted for
One and the same person affidavit	Your statement that two spellings are you. Works with banks, employers and colleges. Usually refused by boards, passport counters and recruitment panels
Issuing office	Whoever issued the record carrying the odd spelling. That is where its correction is asked for, in writing, with proof attached
Attested copy	A copy signed by the office as a true copy. Ask for one of every corrected record, in the same letter
Received stamp	The office's acknowledgement on your own copy. Without it, an application never happened

Coverage

Santali Name Spelling Help Across Jharkhand

The school, the issuing office and the block are in your own district. Reading every document, deciding the one English spelling the family keeps, drafting the applications and telling you whether a gazette is needed at all are done on your scans over WhatsApp, for every district in the state.

DumkaSahibganjPakurGoddaJamtaraDeogharGiridihRanchiJamshedpurSaraikelaChaibasaBokaroDhanbadHazaribaghRamgarhKhunti

District pages are linked from the services page.

Send your papers for a spelling check

Photograph every document that carries the name, yours and your parents': the Class 10 certificate, the Scheduled Tribe certificate, the school admission form if your family kept a copy, the birth record, the Aadhaar and the PAN. If your family writes the name in Ol Chiki or in Devanagari, write it out that way as well and send a photograph of that, because it tells us what the English spellings are standing for. Tell us whether anything is pending, such as a recruitment verification or an admission. The first reply tells you which English spelling to keep and why, which records need correcting and in what order, and whether a gazette is needed at all. It usually is not. Details on the contact page.

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FAQ

Santali Names and Ol Chiki: Frequently Asked Questions

Can I have my name written in Ol Chiki on my certificates?+

We have not verified that any Jharkhand certificate, marksheet, Aadhaar record or caste certificate is issued with the holder's name in Ol Chiki, so we will not tell you it happens. What we can tell you is what actually decides your file: the English form of your name is what gets compared at counters, at a verification and at a recruitment panel. Ask your issuing office if you want to, but plan on the English form travelling.

Is Santali an official language?+

Yes, twice over. It is one of the scheduled languages of the Constitution, added to the Eighth Schedule with Bodo, Dogri and Maithili by the Ninety-second Amendment, which came into force on 7 January 2004 and took the list from 18 languages to 22. It is also the additional official language of Jharkhand and of West Bengal. Nobody should be treating your name as irregular.

Who created the Ol Chiki script?+

Pandit Raghunath Murmu, in 1925. It has 30 letters and is now treated as the official script for Santali literature and language across West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand. Santali is also written in Devanagari, Odia, Bengali script and a Latin alphabet, and that variety is a large part of why one name reaches English in several spellings.

Why do my documents carry different spellings of the same name?+

Because Santali reaches English by several routes and some Santali sounds have no single English letter. A record made through Devanagari and one made through Ol Chiki can land on different letters, and a name written by ear at a school admission goes onto the form as the clerk heard it. Usually nobody was careless and nothing is forged. What you have is records that do not match, which is a different and much smaller problem.

Is this a correction or a change of name?+

Almost always a correction, and using the right word in the first line of your application matters, because the two go down different tracks at different costs. Say plainly that your name is Santali, that Santali is written in several scripts, and that the difference is transliteration and not a change of name. If a document you hold already carries the spelling you want, it is a correction by definition.

Which English spelling should I keep?+

Work through it in this order. One, what does your Class 10 certificate say, because it is the hardest record to change and everything is compared against it. Two, which spelling is on most of your papers already. Three, what do your parents' documents say. Four, is anything pending right now. Test one ends it in most families.

Do I need a gazette?+

Only if the English spelling you want is on no document at all. With a Santali name one of the spellings is nearly always already on a paper you hold, which makes this a correction at the issuing office, publishing nothing and costing a fraction of a gazette file. Ask anybody quoting you to rule out the correction route in writing before you pay.

Will an affidavit be enough?+

With banks, employers and colleges, usually yes. With boards, passport counters, recruitment panels and the Aadhaar system for a major change, usually no, because an affidavit is your own statement and those institutions have to defend their decision later. It is cheap and useful, but find out which office you need to satisfy before paying for one.

In what order should I correct the records?+

Oldest and heaviest first. School record, then the Scheduled Tribe certificate, then the birth record, and the Aadhaar and PAN last of all. Aadhaar and PAN are matched against the school record at verification, so correcting them first creates the very mismatch you are trying to remove, and it is found by somebody else with a deadline attached.

My family in West Bengal or Odisha spells it differently.+

That is common and it is not anybody's fault. All three states write Santali, in different regional scripts, so a record made in one state can come out spelt differently in another. For your own paperwork, settle one English form and make your records carry it. You do not have to make relatives in another state match you, but within your own household it should be one spelling.

Will this matter at a Scheduled Tribe verification?+

It can, which is the reason to settle it early. A verification is not only a check that the certificate is genuine. The Supreme Court's directions send a vigilance officer to examine school records and birth registration and to examine the parent, guardian and candidate. Two spellings sitting in that bundle is what turns a routine check into a long one.

What does it cost?+

Usually very little. Each issuing office's own charges for the records corrected, plus Rs 10 if an RTI application is needed to obtain a school register page. No gazette charge on this route. We do not print office or school charges, because they vary and we have not verified them everywhere. What makes this expensive is never the Government. It is deciding twice.

Who wrote and checked this page

Written and maintained by the Jharkhandnamechange.com documentation desk, led by founder Vipin Chauhan, B.Tech LL.B, with 5+ years filing with the Department of Publication. That Santali was added to the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution along with Bodo, Dogri and Maithili by the Ninety-second Amendment, which came into force on 7 January 2004 and took the list from 18 languages to 22, is a matter of record. That Santali is one of the scheduled languages and the additional official language of Jharkhand and West Bengal, that it is primarily written in the Ol Chiki script, developed in 1925 by Raghunath Murmu, that it is also written in Bengali-Assamese, Odia, Devanagari and a Santali Latin alphabet, and that Ol Chiki is now considered the official script for Santali literature and language across West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand, is taken from the standard reference entries for the language and the script, which also record that the script has 30 letters. Those are reference works, not Government records, and we cite them as such. On the practical question we are deliberately incomplete rather than confident: we have not verified that any Jharkhand certificate is issued with the holder's name in Ol Chiki, so this page tells you to plan on the English form travelling instead of promising you something we cannot show. The position that a Scheduled Tribe verification examines school records and the parents comes from the Supreme Court's directions in Kumari Madhuri Patil against Additional Commissioner, Tribal Development, decided 2 September 1994, which are directions of general application from 1994; the machinery operating in Jharkhand today is set up by the State under its own orders, which we have not verified and therefore do not state. The order of correction and the decide-once rule are our own working method from filing these cases, not a published rule. We do not print office, school or certificate charges, which vary. We are a documentation consultancy and not advocates. Who we are is on the about page.

Last reviewed 20 September 2026 • 9540005002 • info@jharkhandnamechange.com • Jharkhandnamechange.com is a private documentation consultancy and is not the Department of Publication, the Controller of Publication, a court, a law firm or any Government office. This page is general information, not legal advice.

Verify it yourself

Sources on Santali, Ol Chiki and the Records Your Name Sits On

Ninety-second Amendment of the Constitution of IndiaSantali added to the Eighth Schedule with Bodo, Dogri and Maithili, in force 7 January 2004, taking the list from 18 languages to 22.
Santali languageA reference entry, not a Government record: Santali as a scheduled language and the additional official language of Jharkhand and West Bengal, and the scripts it is written in.
Ol Chiki scriptA reference entry: the script invented by Pandit Raghunath Murmu in 1925, with 30 letters.
Kumari Madhuri Patil against Additional Commissioner, Tribal Development, 2 September 1994The Supreme Court directions on the Scrutiny Committee and the Vigilance Cell, and what the vigilance officer examines, including school records.
Jharkhand Academic CouncilThe board that holds and corrects the school record your name will be judged against.
JharSewa, the Jharkhand Government service portalWhere a caste, residence or income certificate is applied for and verified in Jharkhand.
Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969The Act the registrar works under, including the sections on adding and correcting a name in the register.
UIDAI list of supporting documentsWhat Aadhaar accepts for a name update, which is done after the heavier records agree.
Department of Publication, guidelines for change of nameThe twelve categories, for the rare case where a published notice is genuinely asked for.

Quick Summary

A Santali Name on Documents in Eight Lines

The short version

Santali is a scheduled language and an additional official language of Jharkhand.
Ol Chiki was created by Pandit Raghunath Murmu in 1925 and has 30 letters.
Recognition of the language does not mean a certificate is issued in the script.
Plan on the English form of your name being the one that travels.
Several scripts and missing English letters explain the different spellings.
Choose one English spelling, led by the Class 10 certificate, and write it down.
It is a correction, not a change of name, so say that word in your application.
School record first, certificates next, Aadhaar and PAN last of all.

Send us every paper with the name on it and we will tell you which English spelling to keep.

Yours and your parents'. Class 10 certificate, ST certificate, school admission form, birth record, Aadhaar and PAN, plus the name written in your own script if your family uses it.

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