Kokrajhar, May 18: The Bodo Sahitya Sabha today observed Bodo Medium Day at Jalokiabari in Morigaon district.

The event was organised to celebrate 48 years of inclusion of Bodo as the medium of instruction in educational institutions. A special delegate session of the organisation was held to discuss various issues like the demand for a separate directorate for Bodo medium.

“The demand for a separate directorate for Bodo medium is a long standing one of not only the Bodo Sahitya Sabha but also other Bodo organisations like the All Bodo Students Union (Absu), Bodo intellectuals, students and guardians,” said Bodo Sahitya Sabha president Kameswar Brahma.

He said a separate directorate was the only way through which the problems of the Bodo medium, including timely distribution of books, can be solved.

Rabindranath Tagore awardee and former president of the literary organisation, Brajendra Kumar Brahma, said the government was ignorant of the problems faced by the medium, which is why it is not yet solved.

Brahma said Bodo Sahitya Sabha and Absu had been staging several agitation programmes demanding a separate directorate and solution to the Bodo problems for a long time. However, the government only promises implementation but has not taken any action so far.

Retired principal of Kokrajhar Government College Surath Narzary, who is also a Bodo literary figure, said when Bodo language was incl-uded in lower primary schools in Kokrajhar and then in Udalguri subdivision in 1963, it was a glorious moment.

“We were glad to have our mother language in schools, but it is sad to see that the problem (related to the Bodo medium of instruction) has not been taken serious by the state.”

Its been 48 years that the language was introduced as the medium of instruction in schools, but the problems that the medium faced have not been resolved yet, he said.