The Assembly linguistic committee has demanded that Odia should be made the second official language of Chhatisgarh.
The sub-committee on Chhatisgarh which met here recently under the chairmanship of former minister Amar Prasad Satpathy stated that the population of Odias in districts in Chhatisgarh bordering Odisha is 42 per cent and in some pockets, it is 70 per cent.
The overall Odia population in Chhatisgarh is 9.4 per cent, he said.
Members of the sub-committee led by Satpathy visited Raigarh, Bilaspur, Mahasammund and Raipur districts where Odia is taught in 172 schools.
The members also interacted with associations of Odia people.
The former minister said the State Government provides a monthly remuneration of Rs 1,500 to each Odia teacher appointed by the Chhatisgarh Government.
The remuneration is distributed through the Odia Sammilani. The members met Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and Education Minister Brijmohan Agarwal and discussed the issue with them.
The committee also verified whether the remuneration is paid regularly to Odia teachers.
Satpathy said the sub-committee demanded that the Odisha Government should raise the remuneration to ` 3,000 per month. Besides, the Chhatisgarh Government was requested to appoint regular teachers on Odia language.