Sahitya Akademi has expanded its institutional work on endangered and tribal languages through a Language Development Board, periodic Language Conventions, the Bhasha Samman, and dedicated centres for oral literature. The measure matters because language loss is also loss of memory, oral history, and cultural transmission.
What happened
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sahitya Akademi has instituted a Language Development Board to preserve and propagate endangered and tribal languages of India. The Akademi also organises Language Conventions periodically.
The Ministry of Culture stated that a two-day Banjara Language Convention was organised at Hyderabad on 10-11 September 2022. Sahitya Akademi also confers Bhasha Samman on scholars in two categories: research in Classical and Medieval Literature of India, and outstanding contributions to the development and enrichment of unrecognized languages, including tribal languages such as Banjara.
Background and earlier position
India’s linguistic diversity includes many oral and tribal languages that depend heavily on community transmission rather than formal schooling or print circulation. Cultural institutions such as Sahitya Akademi therefore play an important role in documentation, recognition, and archiving of such languages.
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