Shanta Chhetri, former Rajya Sabha member of the Trinamool Congress and current president of the party’s Darjeeling and Kalimpong (hills) district units, has appealed to chief minister Mamata Banerjee for the recognition of the Lepcha language and its inclusion in Bengal’s educational framework.

In her letter to the chief minister, sent on Thursday, Chhetri highlighted the wider linguistic and cultural significance of the Lepcha language.

“Lepcha is spoken not only in Sikkim and selected regions of Bengal, but also across Nepal and Bhutan, reflecting its historical and transboundary importance. Unesco’s classification of Lepcha as an endangered language is an alarming reminder of the fragile existence of this ancient linguistic heritage,” wrote Chhetri.

The Lepchas, one of the three major ethnic communities in the Sikkim–Darjeeling region, have recently intensified their movement to demand the inclusion of their language in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.

The community’s current population in the region is estimated at around seven lakhs.

In 2012, Mamata established a development board for the Lepcha community in the Darjeeling hills. Subsequently, development boards for 15 other communities were also established in the region.

In her letter, Chhetri noted that “the community has persistently voiced their demand, not as an indulgence, but as a rightful assertion of their identity and cultural dignity.”

She mentioned that on December 9, 2025, the Lepcha community launched the “Save Lepcha Language Campaign”. There, community representatives announced that they would walk to Calcutta for their cause.

“It represents not merely a call for linguistic inclusion but a profound struggle for cultural survival and self-respect,” she said.

The former MP further recalled that during her tenure in the Rajya Sabha, she had introduced a private member’s bill —The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2023, seeking the inclusion of Lepcha in the Eighth Schedule.

“Due to adjournment, the bill could not be taken up on August 4, and with my term concluding on August 18, I was deprived of further parliamentary opportunity,” she said.

She also urged the chief minister to initiate the process of introducing Lepcha in the state’s school and university curricula, and recommend its inclusion in the Eighth Schedule to the central government.

On August 20, 1992, the Nepali language was included in the Eighth Schedule, after nearly four decades of advocacy. Currently, 22 languages feature in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.