In a much-awaited move, the Congress government in Rajasthan has appointed a committee to consider declaring Rajasthani the second official language of the State. The committee will study the model of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand for recognition of their native languages, and submit a report on the line of action taken in those States.
At present, Hindi written in Devanagri script is recognised as the official language under the Rajasthan Official Language Act, 1956. The work in the Panchayati Raj Department, the Cooperative Department, the Directorate of Education, the municipal bodies and the Assembly section of the Law Department is compulsorily done in Hindi language.
The State government’s action follows a prolonged movement, spearheaded mainly by the Rajasthani Yuva Samiti, which had raised the demand for the introduction of a Bill on the subject in the Assembly’s Budget Session. The Samiti had pointed to the benefits associated with the recognition of Rajasthani for growth, social harmony and employment.
Incorporating Rajasthani
Education Minister B.D. Kalla made the announcement for the committee’s formation while replying to a calling attention motion moved by Deputy Leader of the Opposition Rajendra Rathore during Zero Hour in the Assembly over the week-end. Mr. Kalla said an amendment would be made based on the committee’s report to the 1956 Act in order to make Rajasthani the official language.
The successive governments in the State have been requesting the Centre to incorporate Rajasthani in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, while the Assembly had passed a unanimous resolution in 2003 for this. In his letter addressed to the Prime Minister in 2019, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had referred to the Sitakant Mohapatra Committee’s recommendation in this regard.
Welcoming the decision
The Rajasthani Yuva Samiti has welcomed the decision, with its founder Himanshu Kiran Sharma crediting the success to over one lakh youth members who had raised the demand at different platforms. The Samiti’s Jaipur in-charge Shubham Rewar said here on Saturday that the common people and other groups had come together to seek the official language status for their Mayad Bhasha (mother tongue).
The Samiti’s national adviser Rajveer Singh Chalkoi said a Bhasha Ka Mela (language fair) programme would be organised here on March 23 and 24 to highlight the history and linguistic features of Rajasthani, which was a “separate and independent” language with many dialects. Linguistic experts consider Rajasthani one of the richest languages in the country, as its dialects, such as Marwari, Mewari, Dhundhari, Hadoti, Wagdi, Braj and Mewati are spoken in different regions.
Innovative methods
The Rajasthani Yuva Samiti used some innovative methods to reach out to the youth and raise awareness among them through the blood donation camps, a candle march at Shaheed Smarak in Jaipur and submission of a memorandum at the temple of Govind Dev, considered the capital city’s deity, seeking its “divine blessings”. A campaign on Twitter with the hashtag, Rajasthani Mange Rajbhasha, trended on the top.
The Samiti members kept making attempts to convey to the Chief Minister the significance of the issue and the need for the State government to exercise its powers under Article 345 of the Constitution, to adopt Rajasthani to be used for official purposes. When the activists could not meet Mr. Gehlot, they approached Mr. Rathore with the request to raise the matter in the Assembly.
