Itanagar: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has listed 33 dialects from a northeastern Indian state as endangered languages.
Four of these dialects are “critically endangered and on the verge of extinction,” says the specialized agency of the United Nations.
This was revealed by Mohesh Chai, Arunachal Pradesh Minister for Art and Culture, on March 9 in the state legislative assembly.
The minister was responding to a question raised by legislator Gabriel D Wangsu during Question Hour, The Shillong Times reported.
According to the UNESCO survey, among the remaining dialects 17 were listed endangered and 12 vulnerable. The UN department has so far documented 42 languages covering most major and minor tribes of the state, the minister added.
“The research department had initiated a project – Linguistic Survey of Arunachal Pradesh – in 2015-2016, which was included in the state annual development agenda of 2016-17,” the minister said.
Chaia also said the government plans to use local language as the third language in all schools. A few languages such as Galo, Adi and Bhoti have already been introduced as the third language to help their preservation; he said, adding the linguistic survey would help in preservation of languages in the state.
Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, who also holds the finance portfolio, said the government had allocated 50 million rupees to the department for the purpose and strategies would be formulated after thorough discussion.