SHILLONG: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju informed a delegation of the Khasi Authors’ Society (KAS) members that the views communicated by the Central Institute of Indian languages (CIIL) and the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to include Khasi as an optional subject will also be taken into consideration.
In a statement issued here, the delegation informed the minister that there is no dearth of experts or qualified examiners if Khasi is included as one of the optional subjects in the UPSC examinations as there are 54 colleges in Meghalaya which offer Khasi up to degree level.
The delegation also met Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday to apprise him of the agenda.
Singh said, “Yes, I know, I know and I have already discussed the matter with the Prime Minister.”
On January 3, the KAS delegation met Rijiju to urge him to take necessary steps to include Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule.
Rijiju had informed them that there are 38 languages pending for inclusion in the Eighth Schedule and experts will look into the merit of the Khasi language.
The department of Khasi, North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong offers Khasi as a subject up to PhD.
The members of the KAS insisted that Singh consider the non-scheduled languages such as Bhojpuri, Rajasthani, Bhoti, Khasi and a few others for inclusion.
KAS president DRL Nonglait told The Shillong Times that Singh is a native speaker of Bhojpuri which is also seeking inclusion in the Eighth Schedule.
“We have hope although the process is long and not easy. Follow up action will continue, we don’t know when Khasi will be included in the Eighth Schedule but we will not give up till Khasi get its rightful place in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution,” he said.
