Guwahati, April 21: Outgoing Asam Sahitya Sabha president Dhruba Jyoti Borah today hailed Dispur's decision to make Assamese compulsory till Class X and said this should be a benchmark for all other states.

Borah was speaking at the inauguration of the three-day Purvottari: Festival of Letters, an event organised by the Sahitya Akademi in association with the Asam Sahitya Sabha and North East Foundation, Guwahati, at NEDFi Convention Centre here today.

"We have come to know that Dispur will make Assamese compulsory till Class X with provisions of making Bengali and Bodo compulsory in the Barak Valley and Bodo-dominated areas respectively. This is a welcome step," said Borah.

"Kerala was the only other state which had taken a similar step. The steps of the Assam and Kerala governments should be the benchmark for all other states. I request the Assam government to make Assamese compulsory till Class XII. It will go a long way in protecting the Assamese language," said Borah.

The Assam education minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, had said on Wednesday that the state government would introduce a bill in the August session of the Assembly. He said the decision would be applicable to both CBSE and state board schools.

Borah today delivered a speech on the Future of Literature in Today's Globalised World. He said the regional languages were dying a slow death and legislative and administrative intervention was the need of the hour to protect them.

Eminent theatre personality Ratan Thiyam, the secretary of the Sahitya Akademi, K. Sreenivasarao, the president of the Sahitya Akademi, Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari, eminent Marathi writer Bhalchandra Nemade and the convener of the Assamese advisory board of the Akademi, Karabi Deka Hazarika, were among those who attended the programme.

A discussion on the Necessity of Mother Tongue was also held. The programmes will begin from 10am tomorrow. There will be four panel discussions and a poets' meet.

Thiyam highlighted how the beautiful and traditional elements of art and literature were facing the onslaught of modernity.

"For example, all the languages that we have from ancient times, the lullabies or songs developed over thousands of years, are coming to a standstill because of the changing times," he said.

Thiyam said because of modernity, people are losing contact with nature and taking shelter in the comforts of modern inventions. "These changes are bound to impact art and literature," he said.

The secretary of the Sahitya Akademi said it was dedicated to working for language and literature in all parts of the country.