At a time when indifference towards Odia language was growing, the Linguistic Committee of the Kendra Sahitya Akademi on Tuesday recommended to the Central government that Odia be accorded classical language status.
If the Central government accepts the recommendation Odia will become the sixth classical language in the country to get the coveted status.Malayalam, Sanskrit, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages had received this status earlier.
Once the Union Cabinet accepts the Kendra Sahitya Akademi recommendation, Odisha would get a Central grant of Rs.100 crore for development of the language in various fields.
A series of demands had been made before the Sahitya Akademi in the past to grant the classical language status to Odia and the recommendation was made after the experts of the Akademi looked into the history and growth of the language.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed satisfaction that the expert committee of the Kendra Sahitya Akademi had recommended the case of Odia language for grant of classical language status.
The Chief Minister expressed hope that the Union Cabinet will accept the Akademi’s recommendation paving the way for grant of classical language status to Odia.
