Govt may add Bhojpuri in 8th schedule

UPA government will consider including Bhojpuri and Rajasthani languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, but no time frame can be fixed for this, Minister of State for Home Ajay Maken said in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

UPA government will consider including Bhojpuri and Rajasthani languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, but no time frame can be fixed for this, Minister of State for Home Ajay Maken said in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

HT Image

A calling attention motion on the subject saw uproarious scenes in the Lok Sabha, with Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal members rushing into the well of the house.

Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee intervened to say that since the scope of the Calling Attention Motion was limited, members could have a short duration discussion in the next session.

Initiating the talk, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam said Bhojpuri was widely spoken and ranked second after Hindi, with a history dating back to the seventh century.

Raghuvansh Prasad (RJD) said Bhojpuri was spoken in 14 districts in UP, nine in Bihar and two in Madhya Pradesh, while Rajasthani had a distinct literature of its own.

"There could be widespread protests if these two languages were not included in the Eighth Schedule", Singh said.