SHILLONG, Feb 19: The pending demand for inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule was one of the topics of discussion in the Assembly on Monday but in a repeat of the previous Assembly session, the state government yet again failed to provide a definitive response on when the long-cherished goal of Meghalaya will come true.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma responded to a question from VPP’s Mawrengkneng MLA Heaving Stone Kharpran by saying that the issue is still pending with the Union government and that no information has been provided regarding what the Centre wants for Khasi and Garo to be included in the Eighth Schedule.
Sangma claimed that in an effort to hasten the procedure and get the state’s request approved, the state government has already sent nine letters to the Centre.
It has been reported that the Union government has reiterated in two letters to the Meghalaya government that there are no set standards for which languages should be included in the Eighth Schedule.
VPP MLAs Ardent Basaiawmoit and Adelbert Nongrum pointed out that the Union government’s letters seem ambiguous, and questioned the state government about why the two languages haven’t been included in the Eighth Schedule.
Congress MLA from Mawhati, Charles Marngar questioned whether the Centre was holding up the approval process since Meghalaya had submitted a request to include both languages in the Eighth Schedule.
It may be recalled that the Union government had, through the Constitution (Ninety-second Amendment) Act, 2003, approved the inclusion of Bodo language in the Eighth Schedule even though the Assam government had requested the inclusion of both the Bodo and Karbi languages.
