Preserve tribal languages, govt told

Mysuru: Director of CIIL, Prof D G Rao on Monday announced that the University Grants Commission is all set to bring out a book based on the lipi used by tribals in India.
Rao was attending a three-day workshop on Languages, Culture and Society, organized by the CIIL, Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies and the computer science department. Rao stated that with the aim of documentation of languages, the UGC will be releasing books in the form of signs that are based on tribal languages, this includes, Siddi, Hakki-Pikki, Bettada Kuruba, Jenu Kuruba and Soliga tribal communities.
Rao said UGC has opened language centres at nine universities in the country, but there is lack of coordination between them, due to this, there is lack of knowledge about which department is working on which language.
Rao asked the departments of the varsity to assist in documentation of languages, more discussions should be conducted to understand the priorities of the documentation process, only then there is possibility of conservation of languages, he said, and suggested that CIIL Mysuru is ready to provide all the necessary support. Rao cited the study conducted by the Central Language Organization of America and mentioned that more than 197 languages are under threat, similarly, more than 150 languages like Indo-Aryan in South India and in Karnataka alone, 50 languages are facing threat.
Emphasizing on conservation of tribal languages, Rao said that the Kalinga Trust of Odisha is educating more than thirty thousand students on Soliga, Hakki-Pikki, Bettada Kuruba, Jenu Kuruba and other tribes which are on the verge of extinction and the government has taken the responsibility of it, Rao said and suggested thet the Karnataka government must take up such works to save the tribal families.
Thinker Rajendra Chenni said if a language becomes extinct, it’s a huge loss to the world. With language, its culture is also lost, he said.
The workshop was attended by scholars from across Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and New Delhi.