Class 8-12 students can now pick Maithili, Bhojpuri as optional languages: Sisodia
NEW DELHI: Delhi Government announced that students in Delhi schools from class 8-12 can now pick the Maithili language as an optional one. Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia also announced that the Maithili-Bhojpuri academy will give free coaching to students who will opt Maithili language in IAS examination.
"Maithili will be taught as an optional language in Delhi schools from class 8th to class 12th. Students of Delhi would now be able to learn Maithili as an optional subject like Urdu and Punjabi," said Deputy CM Manish Sisodia. He added that the government has decided to arrange free coaching for the students who appear in competitive exams like IAS/civil services with Maithili as an optional subject. "They will get coaching for Maithili for the exams. We have done the experiment with Sanskrit and have got good results. The Maithili –Bhojpuri academy will arrange for the free coaching for the students," said the minister.
The Delhi government will make study centres for these languages across Delhi. " We would also like to keep the learning centres decentralized. So people from different parts of Delhi can benefit. This is will help the language to reach more people and more people can get the benefit," Abhinandita Mathur, the advisor to the Deputy CM said.
Meanwhile, the Deputy CM also informed that there is no font for Maithili presently." Delhi government has taken a major step to have a font for Maithili. The government is in touch with Pune based C-DAC for the same. We will get C-DAC to make Maithili font and then will give it to the users," said Deputy CM Sisiodia. He added that there was no scheme till now to felicitate those who have contributed richly to the languages – Maithili and Bhojpuri. Delhi Government has decided to felicitate such people from the field of Maithili and Bhojpuri. The Deputy Chief Minister also said, "A five-day Maithili-Bhojpuri festival will be held in the first or second week of November in Connaught Place. We have already been celebrating language festivals in Connaught Place for the last three-four years. It has always received a good response."
He added that Maithili is included in the 8th schedule of the constitution, but Bhojpuri is not included. "The present central government, when it came to power for the first time in 2014, said that it will include Bhojpuri in the 8th schedule. But it is yet to be done. They are still saying that Bhojpuri will be included. For this, I will write to the centre as the Chairman of the Maithili-Bhojpuri academy to include Bhojpuri in the 8th schedule of the constitution," he said.
