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Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, in his written reply to the Lok Sabha responded to a question about including the Ho language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, stating that there are demands for inclusion of several languages, but no timeline has been set.
The government has received proposals for including Ho, Bhumij, and Mundari languages, but a decision is yet to be made. Rai's response highlights the ongoing deliberations on expanding the Eighth Schedule, which currently recognizes 22 languages as official languages in India. The question was raised by JMM MP Joba Majhi, regarding the need to preserve the Ho language, which is prevalent in a large area of Jharkhand. In his reply, Rai stated that there have been repeated requests for the inclusion of several languages, including Ho, in the Eighth Schedule. However, he noted that there are no fixed criteria for adding languages to the Eighth Schedule. The evolution of dialects and languages is influenced by various socio-cultural, economic, and political factors, making it difficult to establish a clear criterion for such inclusion, the MoS stated. He referenced previous attempts by committees such as the Pahwa (1996) and Sitakant Mohapatra (2003) Committees, which were unable to establish fixed criteria. "As the evolution of dialects and languages is a dynamic process, influenced by socio-cultural, economic, and political developments, it is difficult to fix any criterion for languages for inclusion in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. The earlier attempts, through the Pahwa (1996) and Sitakant Mohapatra (2003) Committees, to evolve such fixed criteria have been inconclusive," the reply stated. The Minister emphasised that the government recognises the importance of the demand for the inclusion of languages like Ho and considers these requests while taking into account various factors. He also mentioned that efforts are being made to preserve and promote languages, including Ho, through initiatives by the Central Institute of Indian Languages and the Ministry of Education. "As regards the preservation of languages like 'Ho', the Central Institute of Indian Languages, and the Ministry of Education works towards the promotion of all Indian languages including tribal languages," the reply read. These efforts include the development of phonetic readers, grammar, dictionaries, folk literature, literacy primers, and educational documentaries in different languages, including tribal languages. (ANI)
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