Keonjhar: Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi Tuesday said that the state government is planning to impart education in the Santali language from primary school to university level.
Majhi said this while inaugurating the seventh annual conference of the Odisha unit of the All-India Santali Writers’ Association here.
“If everyone can receive education in the Santali language by 2025, then it will be a real tribute to Pandit Raghunath Murmu, the creator of the Ol-Chiki script in 1925,” the chief minister said.
Majhi said that the Santali language found a place in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution due to the efforts of former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
“I am indebted to the contribution of Vajpayee,” he said.
The chief minister also called upon the Santali writers to make a dedicated and concerted effort to promote the language, tradition and culture of the community.
They should try to translate the books and other literary creations in Santali to other languages, Majhi said.
Majhi also paid tributes to the founder of the association, late Kandra Murmu and former president late Rupchand Hansda and released a literary magazine of the association on the occasion.
Saroj Kumar Soren presided over the conference which was attended by several MLAs and eminent personalities of the community.
PTI
