BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Government has proposed inclusion of three major tribal languages - Ho, Mundari and Bhumij in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. Terming the importance of the languages as ethnic identity, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has urged Union Minister for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh to consider the proposal at the earliest so long-cherished linguistic aspirations of the tribal communities are fulfilled.With a Scheduled Tribe (ST) population of over 22.85 per cent, Odisha is home to 62 tribal communities, including 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG).
Stating that with 21 tribal languages and 74 dialects the tribals have contributed immensely to the linguistic diversity of the State, Naveen said the tribal languages are the roots of ethnic identity of the tribal groups.“The State Government has initiated several steps for giving recognition to the tribal languages. Still, there are some tribal languages in the State which highly deserve to be included in the 8th Schedule of Constitution,” Naveen wrote to Singh.
Ho language, which is written in Warang Chiti script, is the mother tongue of nearly 10 lakh tribal people living in Odisha and Jharkhand. After Santali, which has already been included, Ho is the second most widely spoken tribal language in the State.Mundari is another important language spoken by more than six lakh people belonging to the Munda and Mundari tribes of the State. Many scholarly works have been published in the language and script.
Similarly, Bhumij is widely spoken by Bhumij community predominantly inhabiting northern parts of the State.“With around three lakh population speaking Bhumij, which has a script and two well-known local dialects with distinct variation from other languages, it needs to be included in the 8th Schedule,” Naveen stated.Earlier, Deputy Speaker of the Assembly Sananda Marndi had requested Naveen to take up the matter with the Centre.