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Make Konkani official language, Goa Govt. urged

By Our Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE APRIL 21. The 23rd session of the All-India Konkani Parishad has called upon the Goa Government to implement the "Goa State Language Act" in totality giving the "Raj Bhasha" status to Konkani in the State. The concluding part of the session passed seven other resolutions here today.

It was felt that though the Act came into force 15 months ago, there was no initiative from the Government to implement it. The executive president of the session, Basti Vaman Shenoy, told The Hindu that if the Act was implemented fully, Konkani would attain the status of an official language in the country, and its claim for inclusion in the Eighth Schedule would be strengthened.

In another resolution, the session urged the Goa Government to introduce Konkani as the first language in primary schools and elevate the standard of Konkani learning in the academic field.

The resolution called upon the Karnataka Government to allow schools managed by members of the Konkani community to introduce it as second language in primary schools as Karnataka had the largest Konkani-speaking areas spread out in the districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Dharwad, and Belgaum.

Mr. Shenoy said the initiative to teach Konkani should come from Konkani institutions. The Konkani community should take the lead in this regard, the resolution said.

A call was also given to the educational institutions managed by Konkanis to set up Konkani libraries, which would provide a fillip to the Konkani publishing industry and encourage writers in Konkani.

The session resolved to seek financial assistance from the State and Union governments for building a "World Konkani Centre" in Mangalore for which land had been purchased. The proposed centre is to cost Rs. 2 crore.

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