"Historic milestone": Rajasthani diaspora in North America welcomes Governor's order on language centres
New York, July 29
The Rajasthani diaspora in North America has welcomed Rajasthan Governor and Chancellor Haribhau Bagde's directive to establish dedicated Rajasthani Language Study Centres in state universities, describing it as a significant step towards preserving and promoting the language.
Prem Bhandari, President of the Rajasthan Association of North America (RANA) and International Convener of the Akhil Bhartiya Rajasthani Bhasha Manyata Sangharsh Samiti, termed the decision a "historic milestone" and said it marked an important moment in the long-standing campaign for recognition of the Rajasthani language.
According to Bhandari, the Governor's directive has rekindled hope among Rajasthani-speaking communities in India and abroad that meaningful institutional measures are finally being taken to promote and preserve the language.
He said the latest development was closely linked to a campaign that has continued for more than two decades, seeking the inclusion of Rajasthani in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, which would grant it official language status.
Bhandari recalled that the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution in 2003 supporting the inclusion of Rajasthani in the Eighth Schedule after a memorandum was submitted that year. He also noted that another memorandum was submitted to then-President Pratibha Patil in 2011, but the proposal remains pending with the Central government.
Pending constitutional recognition, Bhandari urged the Rajasthan government to declare Rajasthani as the state's Second Official Language, noting that several other states have accorded similar status to their regional languages.
Highlighting the linguistic richness of Rajasthani, Bhandari referred to the Rajasthani Dictionary compiled by Dr Sitaram Lalas, which contains more than 210,000 words. He said RANA would continue its "peaceful, democratic and constitutional" campaign until Rajasthani is included in the Eighth Schedule.
The development follows an order issued on Tuesday by the office of Rajasthan Governor and Chancellor Haribhau Bagde directing 11 state-funded universities across Rajasthan to establish Rajasthani Language Study Centres.
The universities covered under the directive include the University of Rajasthan in Jaipur, Jai Narain Vyas University in Jodhpur and Mohanlal Sukhadia University in Udaipur, among others.
The Governor's Secretariat has instructed the vice-chancellors of the universities to initiate the process of establishing the centres "at the earliest" and submit progress reports to Raj Bhavan.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Interesting development. As someone who works with linguistics here in the US, I've always been fascinated by Rajasthan's linguistic diversity. 210,000 words in the Lalas dictionary is impressive; that's more than many European languages have. Hope this leads to proper academic study and documentation.
Great step but too little, too late honestly. The resolution was passed in 2003 - that's TWENTY years ago! And still no Eighth Schedule inclusion. Meanwhile, Hindi and English dominate everything. Even our own young generation in Jaipur speaks more Hinglish than Rajasthani. These centres need real funding, not just orders. 🤷♂️
My nani used to speak such beautiful Marwari at home in Sikar. She passed away last year, and I regret not learning more from her. These study centres should also offer online courses for diaspora like us in Canada. Language is identity, yaar. 👌
While I support preserving Rajasthani, I'm skeptical about government initiatives that look good on paper but lack implementation. First, let's see if these centres actually get faculty, curriculum, and students. Also, declaring it second official language would be more practical than just study centres. The devil is in the details. 🤔
Love seeing Indian languages getting institutional support! I'm a language teacher in Chicago and we desperately need similar efforts for many regional languages here in immigrant communities. Meanwhile, kudos to RANA for their persistent campaign - 20 years is a long fight! 🌟
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