Odisha CM, Governor wish people on Classical Status Day of Odia Language

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Governor Raghubar Das and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wished Odia-speaking people across the globe on the occasion of the ‘Classical Status Day of Odia Language’ today.

Taking to the official ‘X’ handle, Odisha Governor wrote, “Odia language is the identity of our self-respect. Its elegance and cultural consciousness makes us special. On the occasion of this ‘Classical Status Day of Odia Language’ today, the Honourable Governor conveys his hearty wishes to all the Odia-speaking brothers and sisters across the world.”

In a similar vein, the CM wished each Odia-speaking people. On his personal ‘X’ handle, he said, “Our language is our glory, and our treasure trove. Language has enriched our identity. We are celebrating the ‘Classical Status Day of Odia Language’ today as a token of keeping the dignity of our language intact. I pay tribute to the incomparable contributions of all the great men behind it. Let us be careful about making wide use of Odia language, enrich our linguistic identity, and build a ‘New Odisha’.”

Worth mentioning, on 20th February 2014, Odia became the sixth language of the country to get ‘classical language’ status after the Union Cabinet accorded a long-pending demand for placing it in the same group as Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam.

Odia is considered to be the first language of the Indo-Aryan linguistic group. The reason behind making it a classical language was based on the fact that it has no resemblance to Hindi, Sanskrit, Bengali, and Telugu. The proposal to accord classical status was then moved by the Culture Ministry.