August 2, 2022
Sudip Bandyopadhyay’s Zero Hour mention, urging the Union government to accede to Meghalaya’s demand to include the Garo and Khasi languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution
सर, मैंउत्तर-पूवगभारत केबारेमेंबोििा र्ािता ि ं। कृपया मझ ेदो नमिट का समय नदया जाए। It is about inclusion of Garo and Khasi languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. These languages belong to Meghalaya. Article
29 of the Constitution provides that a section of citizens having a distinct language, script or culture have the right to conserve the same. Under the Meghalaya State Language Act, 2005, Garo and Khasi have been declared as associate official languages of the State. Khasi is an Austro-Asiatic language spoken primarily in Meghalaya and in the hill districts of Assam. Garo is a Tibeto-Burman language of the Bodo-Konyak-Jingpho group, closely related to Bodo. It is primarily spoken in Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura, and Nagaland. According to the Census 2011, there are over 13 lakh, 46.5 per cent, Khasi speakers and over 9 lakh, 31.5 per cent, Garo speakers. The issues in inclusion of these two languages have been the lack of their own original scripts.On 27th September, 2018, the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly adopted a resolution to petition the Central Government to include Khasi and Garo language in
the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. We urge the Union Government to take cognisance of the State’s demand to include Garo and Khasi in the Eighth Schedule.
