In an embarrassment to the Omar Abdullah ministry, ruling National Conference members staged a walkout in the Jammu and Kashmir legislative council on Monday saying that the government was enacting a "policy for the death of Urdu language" in the state.

Raising the matter during Question Hour, Mohammad Rasheed Qureshi (NC) accused the government of doing nothing to promote Urdu language in the state.

This was strongly objected to by tourism minister Nawang Rigzin Jora, belonging to coalition partner Congress, who asked what the NC had done when it ruled the state for 27 years.

Angry over the remark, NC members raised slogans against the minister and staged a walkout.

Earlier, in his reply Jora said Urdu will be the official language in the state, but English will also be used for official purposes.

He said various government institutions, including the judiciary, were maintaining official record in English.

Answering supplementaries, Jora said Urdu was being extensively used in revenue, police and judiciary departments.

Besides, Urdu is a compulsory subject in departmental examinations in combined state government services, he added.