BHUBANESWAR : From grants to support research in Odia to a new translation policy and recruitment of Odia teachers, the state government has decided to implement a series of initiatives under its 5T initiative for promotion of the regional language.
This was announced by Culture Minister Ashwini Kumar Patra in the Assembly on Tuesday. The initiatives are a result of proposals received from stakeholders at the first World Odia Language conference which concluded recently. To begin with, a research grant for international and national research in Odia will be set up with a corpus of `10 crore. It will be housed in the Odia university at Satyabadi, Puri district.
The minister said, the government has decided to post Odia teachers in 1,500 high schools in the initial phase and then cover the remaining schools in a time-bound manner. A syllabus revision committee will be constituted for Odia teaching in schools. This apart, to promote Odia language among the next generation, 100 budding talents of Odia language will be identified and honoured by the chief minister annually. The ‘Bhasa Bruti’ scholarships shall also be increased in number and amount to make it more inclusive. A chief ministers’ cup will be instituted for debates in Odia among students, Patra stated.
The government has also decided to provide a heritage grant of Rs 1 crore in two phases to all schools and colleges that are over 100 years old and a grant of Rs 2 crore to universities that were established before Independence. The state government is already considering proposals from five universities for establishing Odia chairs, the minister informed. In order to promote reading habits among youths, the government has decided to support Odia associations in India and abroad for setting up Odia libraries. Besides, an Odia Learning Management System (LMS) to enable students living in Odisha and outside to learn Odia language up to Class-VIII online and also get certificates.
The minister informed an expert committee will be formed for standardisation of Odia script for keyboard and font. And an international digital Odia conference shall be organised annually to bring together experts to promote Odia language in the digital space.
In a bid to improve the reach of Odia books across the world, grants will be provided under a new translation policy for translation of Odia books to other regional and foreign languages. An Odia Lexicon committee shall be formed whose purpose will be to come out with a revised lexicon and glossary of Odia terms across disciplines. Also, a medium term policy shall be framed for promotion of science, technical and medical education in Odia language.
This apart, the printing museum at Cuttack will be transformed as Indian printing museum to showcase printing history and culture across the world. Similarly, the Odisha Institute of Maritime and South East Asian Studies shall be developed into a Centre of Excellence with an annual grant of Rs 2 crore.
For promoting Odia
1,500 Odia teachers to be posted in high schools initially
A syllabus revision committee will be formed for Odia teaching in schools
100 budding talents of Odia language will be honoured by the chief minister every year