Parliament Question: Protection of Tribal Languages

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2012 TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.07.2025 PROTECTION OF TRIBAL LANGUAGES 2012. Adv Gowaal Kagada Padavi: Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has taken steps to protect tribal languages and oral traditions facing extinction and if so, the details thereof; (b) the details of the regions or tribes identified as priorities for language preservation; (c) whether any community radio or digital archive initiatives have been started for this purpose and if so, the details thereof; (d) the steps taken to involve local youth in documenting oral literature and songs; (e) the details of financial support given to tribal scholars and researchers working on language and cultural preservation; and (f) whether the Government plans to publish bilingual dictionaries or teaching materials for endangered tribal languages and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI DURGADAS UIKEY) (a) to (f): Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India under the Centrally Sponsored scheme ‘Support to Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs)’ extends financial support to 29 Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs) in States/Union Territories (UTs) on the basis of the Annual Action Plan submitted by the States/UTs subject to the approval of the Apex Committee chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Under the scheme, proposals relating to, inter-alia research & documentation activities and training & capacity building programmes, organization of tribal festivals, yatras for promotion of unique cultural heritage and tourism and organisation of exchange visits by tribals are organised so that their cultural practices, languages and ritual are preserved and disseminated. TRIs are primarily institutions under the administrative control of the State Government/UT Administration. Under the scheme, funds are also provided for/to: i. Publishing Varnamala, local rhymes, and stories in tribal languages. ii. Publishing books, journals on different tribal languages to promote tribal literature.iii. Translation and publication of Training module about Sickle cell Anaemia disease Awareness and Counselling Modules and Diagnosis & Treatment Module and other Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material in relevant Tribal languages/Dialects. Further, as informed, Ministry of Education, Government of India initiated the “Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages (SPPEL)” under the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru in 2013. The Institute with the help of Core Committee identified 117 languages including tribal languages in its first phase to work upon in step wise manner. SPPEL aims to document the language & culture of the mother tongues/languages of India spoken by less than 10,000 speakers by developing primers, bi/trilingual dictionaries (electronic and print formats), grammatical sketches, pictorial glossaries and ethno-linguistic profile of the community. List of the 117 languages is at Annexure-I. Local community people are integral part of SPPEL language documentation process. Community people are involved as language consultant during the fieldwork. Even community people are involved and invited in workshop, seminar & conferences related to language documentation. Moreover, Bhasha Sanchika, the digital language repository of the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), where language preservation, dissemination, and technological advancement converge in a pioneering initiative. The primary objectives of the archive portal are to provide Indian linguistic resources in diverse formats - text, image, audio, and video; Aiding in creating language technology resources, language pedagogy materials, and other language-related products and services. The details available in the following link: https://sanchika.ciil.org/home CIIL has developed dictionaries under SPPEL and the list is at Annexure-II. In respect of teaching materials, CIIL has developed Primers on 117 languages (scheduled, non-scheduled & tribal) in collaboration with NCERT, New Delhi. The details available in the following link: https://ciil.org/primers_book.Annexure-I Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) to (f) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2012 for answer on 31.07.2025 Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages (SPPEL) List of Endangered Languages Zone-wise Sl. No. Languages / MTs Zone 1 LAMONGSE Andaman & Nicobar 2 LURO Andaman & Nicobar 3 MOUT Andaman & Nicobar 4 ONGE Andaman & Nicobar 5 PU Andaman & Nicobar 6 SANENYO Andaman & Nicobar 7 SENTILESE Andaman & Nicobar 8 SHOMPEN Andaman & Nicobar 9 TAKAHANYILANG Andaman & Nicobar 10 BHUNJIA East Central Zone 11 BINJHIA/BIRJIA/BRIJIA East Central Zone 12 BIRHOR East Central Zone 13 BODO GADABA/ GUTOB East Central Zone 14 BONDO East Central Zone 15 DHIMAL East Central Zone 16 DIDAYI / GATA East Central Zone 17 GORUM East Central Zone 18 HOLIYA East Central Zone 19 MANDA East Central Zone 20 MRU East Central Zone 21 PARENGA East Central Zone 22 THARUA East Central Zone 23 THOTI East Central Zone 24 TOTO East Central Zone 25 AIMOL North East Zone 26 ATONG North East Zone 27 BAGI North East Zone 28 BAITE/ BIATE North East Zone 29 BANGRO North East Zone30 BAWM North East Zone 31 CHINZ / ZYPHE North East Zone 32 CHIRU North East Zone 33 CHOTHE North East Zone 34 DARLONG North East Zone 35 DIRANG MONPA North East Zone 36 GURUNG North East Zone 37 KAGATE North East Zone 38 KAMI / KHAMI North East Zone 39 KHAMBA North East Zone 40 KHAMIYANG North East Zone 41 KHAMPTI North East Zone 42 KOIRENG North East Zone 43 KOMKAR North East Zone 44 KONGBO North East Zone 45 LAMGANG North East Zone 46 LIJU North East Zone 47 MARA North East Zone 48 MEYOR /ZAKHRING North East Zone 49 MOYON North East Zone 50 MUKHIYA/ SUNUWAR North East Zone 51 NAA North East Zone 52 NEWAR / PRADHAN North East Zone 53 NEWARI North East Zone 54 PHAKIAL / TAI PHAKE North East Zone 55 PUROIK / SULUNG North East Zone 56 PURUM North East Zone 57 RALTE North East Zone 58 RANGLONG North East Zone 59 SHERDUKPEN North East Zone 60 SIMONG North East Zone 61 SINGPHO North East Zone 62 TANGAM North East Zone 63 TARAO North East Zone 64 THAPA North East Zone 65 UCHAI North East Zone 66 YOBIN/YOBIN LIJU North East Zone 67 ZAKHRING North East Zone68 CHINALI Northern Zone 69 DARMIYA Northern Zone 70 GAHRI Northern Zone 71 JAD Northern Zone 72 JANGALI Northern Zone 73 JANGSHUNG Northern Zone 74 KANASHI / MALANI Northern Zone 75 RONGPO Northern Zone 76 SPITI Northern Zone 77 BALASTIN Northern Zone 78 BATERI Northern Zone 79 BEDA Northern Zone 80 BHADRALIAM Northern Zone 81 DARGARI Northern Zone 82 GOJAPURI Northern Zone 83 HASSADI Northern Zone 84 KHANA Northern Zone 85 KHASHA/KHASH Northern Zone 86 KUSHWAHI Northern Zone 87 MASIDI Northern Zone 88 MESHABI Northern Zone 89 PADDARI Northern Zone 90 SIAN Northern Zone 91 SIRAM Northern Zone 92 TEHGUL Northern Zone 93 ARANDAN Southern Zone 94 ERAVALLAN Southern Zone 95 HAKKIPIKKI Southern Zone 96 JENU KURUMBA Southern Zone 97 KADAR Southern Zone 98 KANIKER GOTTI Southern Zone 99 KUTIYA Southern Zone 100 MALAIMALASAR Southern Zone 101 MALASAR Southern Zone 102 MALAYAN Southern Zone 103 MANNAN Southern Zone 104 MOOPAN Southern Zone 105 MUDUGA Southern Zone106 MUDUVAN Southern Zone 107 PALIYA Southern Zone 108 PULIYA Southern Zone 109 SIDDI Southern Zone 110 SOLIGA Southern Zone 111 TODA Southern Zone 112 URALI Southern Zone 113 BARADI West Central Zone 114 BHALA West Central Zone 115 BHARWAD/BHARWADI West Central Zone 116 DIWEHI West Central Zone 117 NIHALI West Central ZoneAnnexure-II Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) to (f) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2012 for answer on 31.07.2025 Publications: Sl.No. Title ISBN Published: 1. Hakkipikki-Kannada-English Dictionary 978-93-94835-05-4 2. Malayan-Malayalam-English Dictionary 978-93-94835-06-1 3. Manda-Odia-English Dictionary 978-93-94835-25-2 4. Lamkang-English Dictionary 978-93-94835-27-6 5. Soliga-English-Kannada Trilingual Dictionary 978-93-94835-28-3 6. A Dictionary of Soliga-English 978-93-94835-30-6 7. Luro Dictionary 978-81-19411-54-2 8. Sanenyo Dictionary 978-81-19411-88-7 *****