Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 8 Jun: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami today announced that Uttarakhand’s folk literature will be digitally preserved, marking a significant step towards safeguarding the state’s rich linguistic heritage.
Chairing a meeting of the Uttarakhand Bhasha Sansthan’s General Assembly and Management Executive Committee at the Secretariat here, today, he emphasised the need for digitisation of Uttarakhand’s dialects, folk tales, songs, and literature. He suggested creating an e-library to archive and promote these linguistic treasures.
On this occasion, Dhami also called for expanding the collection of folk tales, developing audio-visual content based on them, and introducing weekly competitions in local dialects for the school students. He further proposed a grand Uttarakhand Language and Literature Festival to bring together litterateurs from across the country and advocated for a linguistic map showcasing the various dialects of the state. He also urged residents to embrace the practice of gifting books instead of bouquets to encourage literary engagement.
During the meeting, it was also decided to increase the prize money for the ‘Uttarakhand Sahitya Gaurav Samman’ from Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 5.51 lakhs. The state government will also introduce the ‘Deerghkaaleen Sahitya Seva Samman’, carrying a prize of Rs 5 lakhs, to honour long-term contributions to literature. To inspire young writers to embrace Hindi, a Yuva Kalamkar Pratiyogita (Young Writers’ Competition) will be organised, divided into two age groups with one age group being of writers 18 to 24 years in age and the other group being competitors from 25 to 35 years in age. During the meeting, plans were also finalised to deploy mobile libraries to remote regions and collaborate with major publishers to enhance access to literary resources. It was stated that short videos promoting local dialects will be created to engage children and spark their interest in folk languages.
The meeting also resolved to document and preserve ‘Bakana’, a traditional Pandwani singing style from the Jaunsar Bawar region. It was announced that Uttarakhand Bhasha Sansthan will compile the complete works of renowned playwright Govind Ballabh Pant and collect literary pieces by Uttarakhand’s writers published in Indian periodicals over the last 50 to 100 years. Research projects focusing on Uttarakhand’s high-Himalayan and tribal languages will also be initiated, and two Sahitya Grams (Literary Villages) will be developed as hubs for literary creation, seminars, and debates.
Minister Subodh Uniyal, on this occasion, shared various new initiatives undertaken by the Uttarakhand Bhasha Sansthan in the past three years, reaffirming the government’s commitment to preserving and promoting regional languages. He noted that several awards are being provided to encourage linguistic and literary contributions.
Also present at the meeting were Principal Secretary RK Sudhanshu, Secretaries V Shanmugam and Sridhar Babu Adanki, Director, Languages, Swati Bhadoria, Additional Secretary Manuj Goel, Vice Chancellor of Doon University Prof Dr Surekha Dangwal, Vice Chancellor of Sanskrit University, Haridwar, Prof Dr Dinesh Chandra Shastri, and several other dignitaries.
