Bhubaneswar, March 11: Two years after the Centre recognised Odia as the sixth classical language, very little has been done to promote it, complained veteran writers.
The state celebrated Shastriya Odia Bhasa Divas today, as on this day in 2014, the Centre issued a gazette notification recognising Odia as the sixth classical language after Sanskrit, Kannad, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. The day is celebrated to commemorate the same.
Two years on, veteran writers feel that the state government has been moving at a snail's pace in the process. "No concrete steps have been taken to promote the language. The need of the hour is a proper roadmap to move ahead," said eminent linguist Debi Prasanna Pattanayak who played an instrumental role in the process of getting the classical status.
Writers also questioned the functioning of the Odia Bhasa Pratisthan that was set up by the state government in 2006 for preservation, development and extension of Odia language. "It has been lying dormant for a very long time. Nothing has been done to set up the centre of excellence also. There are so many panels that have been set up for the purpose, but creating them is not enough, making them purposeful is important," said writer Sujit Panda.
The panel has planned to publish a dictionary that will have translation of simple Odia words from a number of regional languages and dialects of the state. A committee comprising regional writer from each of the 30 districts have also been formed for the purpose.
"We have planned to release the dictionary in the next four months and make it available on the website of the Odia Bhasa Pratisthan and other organisation dealing with Odia language," said head of the institution, Tamasarani Dasmohapatra.
The Odisha Sahitya Akademi has also planned to upgrade the library on its premises to attract more readers.
"There is an urgent need to focus on translating popular Odia works and making it public so that non-Odia people can read them. Steps should be taken to employ technology in developing the language and multidimensional lexicography," said the veteran litterateur.
He further added that there is also need to focus on conducting research in developing the linguistics and grammar.
The state government has assured that steps are being mulled to create chairs for Odia language in various universities of the country.
"One chair will be created in Sambalpur University in the name of Bhima Bhoi and another at JNU in the name of Fakir Mohan Senapati. More chairs will be set up in Delhi University, BHU and other state varsities," said Manoranjan Panigrahi, secretary of the state culture department.
However, on this day, many took to various social networking sites to congratulate each other on the occasion. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today tweeted, "On Shastriya Odia Bhasha Day, we pledge to continue efforts to preserve, protect and promote Odia language and culture."
A number of meetings were also conducted by various Odia language bodies. The day was celebrated in other parts of the state as well including schools, college and universities. A number of rallies were taken out and a number of debate and essay competitions were held.
