Bihar plans unified body to promote regional languages

Additional chief secretary (education) Dipak Kumar Singh said the proposal for a unified body for promoting different languages and cultures was discussed at the recent review meeting of the education department, which was chaired by chief minister Nitish Kumar.

The Bihar government plans to subsume its language academies into one umbrella body with different verticals to cater to the needs of all, besides adding new languages with rich legacy in the state.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. (PTI)

Additional chief secretary (education) Dipak Kumar Singh said the proposal for a unified body for promoting different languages and cultures was discussed at the recent review meeting of the education department, which was chaired by chief minister Nitish Kumar.

“Right now, it is in the proposal stage. We will work out the modalities. The need for it was felt as all the existing eight language academies have individual set-ups and they face several problems that hinder their growth. As a result, they are not able to deliver what they are expected to. One body with different verticals will be easy to manage. Besides, it will also give room for promoting other languages spoken by significantly large populations, viz. Surjapuri and Bajjika. The CM wanted that indigenous languages and culture should be promoted effectively,” he said.

The move to include Surjapuri is significant as it is spoken in Seemanchal region, where union home minister Amit Shah last week addressed a rally and spent two days to indicate BJP’s focus in the area, which has a significant Muslim population.

The proposed second language for promotion is Bajjika, a dialect spoken in a vast region of north Bihar closer to Nepal.

In the Mithilanchal region of north Bihar overlapping many of the regions where Bajjika is spoken, a movement for a separate Mithila state has also been going on over the last few years.

Both Surajpuri and Vajjika have similarities with Maithili, which was included in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution by the 92nd amendment in 2003. There are 22 languages listed in the 8th Schedule.

At present, Bihar has eight separate language academies for Maithili, Magahi, Bangla, Sanskrit, Bhojpuri, Angika, South Indian languages, besides the Hindi Granth Akademi.

Bihar is known for its rich linguistic heritage and the academies were set up for promoting and protecting them, but they have been plagued with problems related to service conditions, appointments etc. for years.

A senior official of the education department said that none of the language academies have a full-fledged director for a long time, with officials of the Bihar Education Service holding additional charge. These institutions exist mostly on paper only without staff. Even academies for Maithili and Sanskrit have been left with just one or two employees, the official said.

“The idea is to make them effective and having one unified body will help in better management and monitoring. For different languages, it will have different faculties. We will have to work out a plan to ensure they are effective in promoting different languages and cultures to showcase Bihar’s rich diversity,” said Singh.