Centre seeks information on scheduled status for Tulu

Language has 2,000 years of history, says minister

Kannada and Culture Minister Umashree told the Assembly on Wednesday that the State government would soon furnish all information to the Centre for including Tulu language in the eighth schedule of the Constitution.

In a written reply to Mohiuddin Bava B A of the Congress, the minister said the Centre had sought information on the number of Tulu-speaking people in the State. The government has data as per the 2001 population census figures.

Now, steps are being taken to collect information based on the 2011 census. Information has also been sought from the Kannada Sahitya Academy and it will be sent to the Centre, she said.She said there are 22 languages under the eighth schedule. The Centre wants to add 10 more to the list.

“I hope Tulu will also be included as an official language. The State government is taking all necessary steps in this regard,” she said.

Tulu language has 2,000 years of history.

It was in 2001 that the State government urged the Centre to declare Tulu as an official language. The Centre wrote to the State government last month, seeking certain information, she said.

Autonomy sought

In another reply to K Gopalaiah of the JD(S), Umashree said the government had asked the Centre to give it autonomy to utilise funds being provided in the wake of Kannada securing the classical language status.

Currently, the Centre is giving funds to the Central Institute of Indian Languages for the development of Kannada under the classical language status. The neighbouring Tamil Nadu has succeeded in getting such an autonomy, which has enabled it to get enhanced grants for the development of Tamil, she said.

The Minister said the Centre had released grants of Rs 2.92 crore for the development of Kannada since it got the status in 2008, through the Central Institute of Indian Languages.

The State government released Rs 11.02 crore for similar activities.