BHUBANESWAR: The BJD has demanded inclusion of four tribal languages in the 8th schedule of the Constitution of India.
The party will make the request during President Ram Nath Kovind’s three-day visit to Odisha, BJD vice-president Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, general secretary Shreemayee Mishra and party MLA Basanti Hembram told the mediapersons on Saturday.
The tribal languages are Ho, Mundari, Bhumji and Koshali. The leaders said the Scheduled Tribe (ST) population in Odisha is about 22.85 per cent which comprises 62 ST communities who mostly use Ho and Mundari as their mother tongue.
Stating that the fight for languages has been continuing in Odisha since the British regime, they said though the political parties had promised to raise their demand before the Centre for the inclusion of tribal languages in the eighth schedule of the Constitution, there has been no initiative taken by them till date. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has written two letters in this regard to the Centre.