Taking the initiative to include Tulu in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution forward, a delegation of the Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy will meet Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi on August 31.
The delegation would apprise the Minister to take steps for including Tulu in the Eighth schedule.
The delegation would comprise M. Janaki Brahmavar, president of the academy, former presidents Vamana Nandavara and Umanath Kotian, president of Kerala Tulu Sahitya Academy Subbayya Rai, a representative of Akhila Bharata Tulu Okkuta A C Bhandary, Registrar of the academy B Chandrahasa Rai and D Veerendra Heggade, dharmadhikari of Dharmasthala.
Minister of State for Union Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju in a written reply to a question by Shobha Karandlaje and Hariom Singh Rathore, MPs, in the Lok Sabha on July 26, 2016 said that there were demands for inclusion of 38 more languages, including Tulu, in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
Difficult to fix criteria
The Minister said that as the evolution of dialects and languages was dynamic, influenced by socio-eco-political developments, it was difficult to fix any criterion for languages, whether to distinguish them from dialects, or for inclusion in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution.
Thus, both attempts, through the Pahwa (1996) and Sitakant Mohapatra (2003) Committees to evolve such fixed criteria have not borne fruit.
The Minister said that the government was conscious of the sentiments and requirements for inclusion of other languages in the Eighth Schedule, and would examine the requests keeping in mind the sentiments, and other considerations such as evolution of dialects into language, widespread use of a language etc.
