Language Research

Each state in India has a different official language, some of them not recognized by the central government. Some states have more than one official language. Bihar in east India has three official languages, Hindi, Urdu and Bengali, which are all recognized by the central government. However, Sikkim, in east India as well, has four official languages but only Nepali is recognized by the central government. Aside from the languages officially recognized by central or state governments, there are others, which do not have this recognition but their speakers are waging political campaigns to achieve official status.

Updated (October 2007)

GOVERNMENTAL SUPPORT FOR MINOR LANGUAGES

The Ministry of Human Resource Development has issued proposals for the development of minor Indian languages. The project in question, which requires financial support of about 50 million Rupees over the next five years, is seeking an official permission from the government.

Apparently, the project may be viewed as a linguistic exercise. The ministry argues that this effort is more than an attempt to allocate resources systematically to enhance the status of a language and of the community that uses it. The benefits need also to be seen in terms of socio–linguistic development of small and marginalized communities, which are on the fringes and missing the benefits of economic and social development.

There are, as per the 2001 Census, some 450 languages spoken in the country; some of these languages (about 200) are spoken by less than 10,000 persons. There is only little or no documentation in these languages as they have survived only orally and its usage is endangered due to the decreasing number of their speakers. Only 22 languages, which translate into 85 mother tongues, are part of the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. These are the languages of instruction in schools (so–called scheduled languages), aside from English.

With increasing level of education system, these scheduled languages dominate and perhaps crowd out the minor ones. Many minor languages have been facing the threat of extinction due to the absence of educational institutions employing these modes of communication.

In this context, the Ministry has proposed the new scheme to ensure that these minor languages live on. It includes documenting literature, preparing necessary pedagogies and texts to support them as well as encouraging publishing activity. The project could lead to the creation of an encyclopedia or regional encyclopedias of smaller language communities of India.

Observations by anthropologists, sociologists and historians working on some of these languages indicate the cultural and linguistic significance of the non–scheduled languages in India. Some of these such as Santhali, Khasi, Mizo have produced literary works of great merit. Therefore, the Ministry has argued the linguistic diversity in India is a unique country's heritage, which should be preserved.

Source: The Economic Times of India, Politics/Nation, October 15, 2007 http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/PoliticsNation/Ministry_fails_to_get_its_language_scheme_right/articleshow/2458712.cms

SANTHALI AND BENGALI SHOULD ALSO GAIN A SECOND LANGUAGE STATUS IN JHARKHAND

The demand for second language status for Santhali (a tribal language) and Bengali has gained momentum in Jharkhand (a state in eastern India) after the State Government decreed Urdu to be the official second language.

Several tribal and Bengali associations have criticized the government's move, describing it as a “political gimmick”. The Bengali associations have stepped up their demand to include the Bengali language in the second language category. They have welcomed the move to accord Urdu the second language status but also argued that much more people in Jharkhand speak Bengali than Urdu (According to the 1991 Census, 10.06 percent of people are Bengali speakers while only 6.75 percent speak Urdu.).

Furthermore, Ram Dayal Munda, former vice–chancellor of Ranchi University and a tribal leader, pointed out that there are nine tribal languages in Jharkhand, which should be included in the second language category.

Reacting on the issue, a convener of the Jharkhand United Progressive Alliance and head of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha party, Shibu Soren said that Bengali and Santhali would also be included in the list of second languages. He also said that the process had already started and the state government would notify the second language status to these two languages soon.

Source: Khabrein.Info, News, October 24, 2007 http://www.khabrein.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7571&Itemid=88&limit=1&limitstart=0

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