Govt Announces To Set Up Corpus Fund Of Rs 10 Crore For Research In Odia Language

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to set up a corpus fund of Rs 10 crore for national and international research in Odia language.

Announcing this in the Assembly on Wednesday, Culture Minister Aswini Patra said the decision was taken by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik based on the proposals passed in the first World Odia Language Conference. The fund will be operated by the Odia University at Satyabadi in Puri district.

As per the decision, an International Digital Odia conference will be held every year to bring together experts to promote Odia language in the digital space. An expert committee will be formed for standardisation of Odia script for the keyboard and font.

Besides, the government will appoint exclusive Odia teachers in 1500 high schools initially and then cover all high schools in a time-bound manner. A syllabus revision committee, which will be constituted for Odia teaching in schools, will give suggestions in a regular manner for updating syllabus as per the need.

A heritage grant of Rs 1 crore will be provided in two phases for the schools and colleges which are more than 100 years old and a grant of Rs 2 crore to the universities established before Independence. Similarly, a grant of Rs 2 crore will be given for pre-Independence universities.

An Odia lexicon committee will be formed to come out with a revised lexicon and glossary of Odia terms across disciplines. A medium-term policy will be framed for promotion of science, technical and medical education in Odia language.

The government will come up with a translation policy with an exclusive grant for translating Odia books to other languages of India and the world, the minister said.