SHILLONG: The Khasi Authors’ Society (KAS) has welcomed the resolution passed in the Assembly on Thursday on inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule and urged the state government to take up the matter with the Centre at the earliest.
“We hope the chief minister will take steps as he assured us take up the matter with the Union Home Minister and the Prime Minister… if the Government is serious, something will happen within this year in New Delhi,” said KAS president Dr L Nonglait on Friday.
Making it clear that the Society would aggressively pursue the issue, Nonglait urged the government to make a strong case for including Khasi language and “the Society will cooperate with the government”.
When asked about the benefits of including Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule, the KAS chief said all the ministries will have to keep translators for the language and it will open up avenues.
“Once the language gets its recognition, the University Grants Commission will have to conduct examinations for MA Khasi which is not the case now,” he added According to the 2011 Census, the Khasi and Garo languages are spoken by 13.8 lakh and 9.36 lakh people, respectively.
Another important criterion the MHA had set is that the language should be a medium of instruction in schools and colleges.
