Dear Sir,
Through the column of your esteemed newspaper, I would like to draw the attention of the Government of Assam towards the issue of inclusion of the ‘Manipuri’ language as an Associate Official Language of Assam State. In Assam State, the prevailing medium of instructions at high school (Class X) as well as at higher secondary (Class XII) levels are English, Assamese, Bengali, Hindi and Manipuri languages. In a recent notification by the Government of Assam, it has been notified that for government jobs, jobs at PSU banks, jobs at other Departments/Ministries of Assam Government and competitive examinations conducted by Assam Civil Service Commission (APSC), the aspirant candidates are required to appear in one of the languages of either Assamese or Bengali (for candidates hailing from Barak Valley districts i,e, Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj), or Bodo (for candidates hailing from Bodoland Territorial Region). Thus, just because of this very language hurdle, the aspirant Manipuri candidates, who have studied in the schools in Manipuri medium of instructions, are deprived of appearing in various employment oriented examinations. On the other hand, it is to be noted that, ‘Manipuri’ language is also one of the 22 Scheduled Indian languages in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution of India, since the year 1992. However, unfortunately, the Government of Assam has not yet included the ‘Manipuri’ language as one of the Associate Official Languages of Assam State. Therefore, the Government of Assam is requested that ‘Manipuri’ language may please be included as one of the Associate Official Languages of Assam State, so that the indigenous Manipuri community of Assam can have the rights and status as the centuries old indigenous inhabitants of Assam State as well as be proud Indian citizens. Many Manipuri youths are being deprived of the opportunities for jobs and employment, due to non-inclusion of Manipuri language, as an Associate Official Language in Assam State and the recent Government of Assam notification of 05 August 2019.
Yours sincerely.
Colonel Tensubam Gokul Singha.
Guwahati. 9365156852.
Email : [email protected]
