BHUBANESWAR: A year has passed since Odia became the sixth language of the country to get the classical status but its benefits are yet to trickle down.
The Union Cabinet had officially accorded the status to Odia on March 11, 2014 and the language now stands in the same league as Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
As per Government provisions, once a language is declared classical, it gets financial assistance for setting up a centre of excellence for further study and also opens up an avenue for two major awards for scholars of eminence in the language. Currently, there are centres of excellence for Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada and work is on for Malayalam.
However, in case of Odia, the proposed Central Institute of Classical Odia (centre of excellence) has been limited to pen and paper.
Last year, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had written to Union Human Resources Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani proposing that a Central Institute of Classical Odia be established at Bhubaneswar to promote further research and development of Odia language. Naveen also suggested that two professional chairs be started in Central University of Odisha, Koraput from this academic year (2015-16).
While Naveen wrote that the State Government is committed to extend all necessary support in this regard, the Ministry is yet to take a decision on it.
Eminent linguist Debi Prasanna Pattnaik, who had presented an exhaustive research paper before linguistic committee of Kendriya Sahitya Akademi seeking classical status for Odia, blamed the Government for the delay. He said as of now, no work has been started to set up the centre. “After Centre’s declaration of classical tag to Odia language, the State Government spent six months celebrating the achievement but no thought was given as to what should be the next step,” he said.
As per norms, Pattnaik said the State Government should first identify land for setting up the centre and submit a report in this regard to the Union Government, which would then provide financial assistance for construction work. “Till a permanent building comes up, the centre would function at Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) at Mysore as it has been the case with Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. Sadly in our case, the Government has so far only written letters to the MHRD. No land has been identified,” said Pattnaik, who was also the founder director of CIIL.
Meanwhile, Culture Minister Ashok Panda said the State Government has pursued the matter with the MHRD twice. “I had recently met the Secretary, Higher Education Satyanarayan Mohanty, who informed that the proposal file for Central Institute of Classical Odia has been processed and if everything goes as per plan, it might be opened in one of the Central institutions in Bhubaneswar on a temporary basis this year. In the later stage, we can decide on a permanent campus for the centre,” he said.