Include Kosali, Ho in 8th Schedule, Naveen urges Shinde

Odisha Sun Times Bureau

Bhubaneswar, Mar 1:

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today urged Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Sinde for inclusion of Sambalpuri/Kosali and Ho languages in the 8th Schedule to the Constitution of India.

“Sambalpuri/Kosali is the mother tongue of about 75 lakh people spread over 10 contiguous districts of Western Odisha. It has been put to writing for more than 50 years, is a medium of education in non-formal schools and has a robust oral tradition of many centuries in the form of folk music and folk literature etc. Similarly, Ho language is the mother tongue of more than a million tribal people living on the borders of Odisha and Jharkhand and also satisfies majority of the criteria required for inclusion in the 8th Schedule to the Constitution,” said Patnaik in a letter to the Home Ministry.

“I would urge upon the Union Home Ministry to consider our proposal favourably at the earliest, which will go a long way in fulfilling the long cherished linguistic aspirations of the people of western and northern Odisha,” said Patnaik in his letter.

The matter of inclusion of the two languages in the 8th Schedule to the Constitution is presently under the consideration of Centre. The state government has recently forwarded a detailed proposal based on the recommendations of an Expert Committee chaired by Dr. Rajendra Kishore Panda and other eminent linguists, which has recommended inclusion of Sambalpuri/Kosali and Ho languages in the 8th Schedule to the Constitution.

Besides, it was a long standing demand of Western Odisha people to include Kosali language in the Constitution.