Guwahati: Asam Sahitya Sabha will request chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal to accept the language policy for school education that has been agreed upon by it along with the literary bodies of eight ethnic communities of the state.
Sabha's general secretary Padum Rajkhowa said they will send memoranda to Sonowal through the deputy commissioners of each district with their demand on August 25, the day when Oxomiya Bhaxa Unnati Xadhini Xobha, Sabha's precursor, was established in 1888.
The Sabha will celebrate August 25 as Bhaxa Xonkolpo Diwas (Language Resolution Day) by placing various demands before the Assam government to put pressure on Dispur to work for Assamese language and literature.
The Sabha, the literary bodies of Karbi, Bodo, Rabha, Tiwa, Dimasa, Mising, Deori and Garo communities and representatives of the state education department, had met on August 7 at Kahilipara here to frame the language policy for school education.
Setting aside all earlier differences, the Sabha and the eight literary bodies had come to a mutual acceptance on a common language policy.
The state education department is preparing the policy, which will have to be passed by the state cabinet.
"We want the chief minister to accept the language policy and pass it by the cabinet considering the larger interest of development of all languages of the state," Rajkhowa said.
After the 2011 census report revelation about shrinkage of Assamese speakers by 9.43 per cent in two decades, the Sabha apprehends that speakers of Assamese and other languages of various indigenous communities of the state will go down further.
"We want the chief minister to introduce a compulsory language paper containing 50 per cent questions from local languages and rest from the state official language in examinations for government jobs," he added.
Rajkhowa said they would also demand to make Assamese compulsory in all universities of the state, supply Assamese software in government offices, develop Assamese dictionaries and ensure uses of Assamese language in government offices.
