Tripura Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ratan Lal Nath Sunday said the state government was trying to get the Kokborok language included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. “In our country, 22 languages are recognised by the Constitution… Our priority is to include Kokborok in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. It’s our demand,” Nath said while addressing the main event to mark the 46th Kokborok Diwas at Rabindra Shatabarshiki Bhawan in Agartala. In a veiled criticism of the erstwhile Left Front government, Nath stated that no initiative was taken to develop the language before 2018, which was the year when the BJP came to power in Tripura. The Left Front ruled the northeastern state continuously for 25 years till 2018. “We named Gandacherra as Ganda Tuisa, Baramura as Hatai Kotor to promote the Kokborok language. Now one can even pursue a PhD in the Kokborok language,” he said. Comparing mother tongue to mother’s milk, the minister said, “Mother tongue is one’s birthright… No government can snatch it. Children learn their mother tongue from their mother before going to school. Mother tongue is equivalent to mother’s milk. There is no alternative to it.” “If a mother tongue is lost, then a society is lost. We can express ourselves more in our mother tongue than in any other language. That’s why our prime minister is giving importance to mother tongue,” Nath added. Highlighting different initiatives taken by the state government for the promotion of the Kokborok language, Nath stated that they have created 22 posts for Kokborok faculty in colleges and also used the language for the Teachers’ Eligibility Test, among others. Nath further said that Kokborok is being taught in 1,163 schools from Classes 1 to 5, 133 schools from Classes 6 to 8, 115 schools in Classes 9 and 10, and 65 schools in Classes 11 and 12. Nearly 10,000 students are currently learning the language. The minister mentioned that 3,276 candidates had the Kokborok subject in their Class 10 state board exams in 2023, while 4,009 Class 12 board examinees had Kokborok the same year.
