Protection of Tribal Languages

2025-07-31 Information

In Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State (MoS) for Tribal Affairs Shri Durgadas Uikey replying today to an un-starred question of Adv Gowaal Kagada Padavi informed that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India under the Centrally Sponsored scheme ‘Support to Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs)’ extends financial support to 29 Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs) in States/Union Territories (UTs) on the basis of the Annual Action Plan submitted by the States/UTs subject to the approval of the Apex Committee chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Under the scheme, proposals relating to, inter-alia research & documentation activities and training & capacity building programmes, organization of tribal festivals, yatras for promotion of unique cultural heritage and tourism and organisation of exchange visits by tribals are organised so that their cultural practices, languages and ritual are preserved and disseminated. TRIs are primarily institutions under the administrative control of the State Government/UT Administration. Under the scheme, funds are also provided for/to:

Further, as informed, Ministry of Education, Government of India initiated the “Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages (SPPEL)” under the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru in 2013. The Institute with the help of Core Committee identified 117 languages including tribal languages in its first phase to work upon in step wise manner. SPPEL aims to document the language & culture of the mother tongues/languages of India spoken by less than 10,000 speakers by developing primers, bi/trilingual dictionaries (electronic and print formats), grammatical sketches, pictorial glossaries and ethno-linguistic profile of the community. List of the 117 languages is at Annexure-I. Local community people are integral part of SPPEL language documentation process. Community people are involved as language consultant during the fieldwork. Even community people are involved and invited in workshop, seminar & conferences related to language documentation.

Moreover, Bhasha Sanchika, the digital language repository of the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), where language preservation, dissemination, and technological advancement converge in a pioneering initiative. The primary objectives of the archive portal are to provide Indian linguistic resources in diverse formats – text, image, audio, and video; Aiding in creating language technology resources, language pedagogy materials, and other language-related products and services. The details available in the following link:

https://sanchika.ciil.org/home

CIIL has developed dictionaries under SPPEL and the list is at Annexure-II. In respect of teaching materials, CIIL has developed Primers on 117 languages (scheduled, non-scheduled & tribal) in collaboration with NCERT, New Delhi. The details available in the following link: https://ciil.org/primers_book .

Annexure-I

Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages (SPPEL)

List of Endangered Languages Zone-wise

Sl. No.

Languages / MTs

Zone

LAMONGSE

Andaman &Nicobar

LURO

Andaman &Nicobar

MOUT

Andaman &Nicobar

ONGE

Andaman &Nicobar

SANENYO

Andaman &Nicobar

SENTILESE

Andaman &Nicobar

SHOMPEN

Andaman &Nicobar

TAKAHANYILANG

Andaman &Nicobar

BHUNJIA

East Central Zone

BINJHIA/BIRJIA/BRIJIA

East Central Zone

BIRHOR

East Central Zone

BODO GADABA/ GUTOB

East Central Zone

BONDO

East Central Zone

DHIMAL

East Central Zone

DIDAYI / GATA

East Central Zone

GORUM

East Central Zone

HOLIYA

East Central Zone

MANDA

East Central Zone

MRU

East Central Zone

PARENGA

East Central Zone

THARUA

East Central Zone

THOTI

East Central Zone

TOTO

East Central Zone

AIMOL

North East Zone

ATONG

North East Zone

BAGI

North East Zone

BAITE/ BIATE

North East Zone

BANGRO

North East Zone

BAWM

North East Zone

CHINZ / ZYPHE

North East Zone

CHIRU

North East Zone

CHOTHE

North East Zone

DARLONG

North East Zone

DIRANG MONPA

North East Zone

GURUNG

North East Zone

KAGATE

North East Zone

KAMI / KHAMI

North East Zone

KHAMBA

North East Zone

KHAMIYANG

North East Zone

KHAMPTI

North East Zone

KOIRENG

North East Zone

KOMKAR

North East Zone

KONGBO

North East Zone

LAMGANG

North East Zone

LIJU

North East Zone

MARA

North East Zone

MEYOR /ZAKHRING

North East Zone

MOYON

North East Zone

MUKHIYA/ SUNUWAR

North East Zone

NAA

North East Zone

NEWAR / PRADHAN

North East Zone

NEWARI

North East Zone

PHAKIAL / TAI PHAKE

North East Zone

PUROIK / SULUNG

North East Zone

PURUM

North East Zone

RALTE

North East Zone

RANGLONG

North East Zone

SHERDUKPEN

North East Zone

SIMONG

North East Zone

SINGPHO

North East Zone

TANGAM

North East Zone

TARAO

North East Zone

THAPA

North East Zone

UCHAI

North East Zone

YOBIN/YOBINLIJU

North East Zone

ZAKHRING

North East Zone

CHINALI

Northern Zone

DARMIYA

Northern Zone

GAHRI

Northern Zone

JAD

Northern Zone

JANGALI

Northern Zone

JANGSHUNG

Northern Zone

KANASHI / MALANI

Northern Zone

RONGPO

Northern Zone

SPITI

Northern Zone

BALASTIN

Northern Zone

BATERI

Northern Zone

BEDA

Northern Zone

BHADRALIAM

Northern Zone

DARGARI

Northern Zone

GOJAPURI

Northern Zone

HASSADI

Northern Zone

KHANA

Northern Zone

KHASHA/KHASH

Northern Zone

KUSHWAHI

Northern Zone

MASIDI

Northern Zone

MESHABI

Northern Zone

PADDARI

Northern Zone

SIAN

Northern Zone

SIRAM

Northern Zone

TEHGUL

Northern Zone

ARANDAN

Southern Zone

ERAVALLAN

Southern Zone

HAKKIPIKKI

Southern Zone

JENU KURUMBA

Southern Zone

KADAR

Southern Zone

KANIKER GOTTI

Southern Zone

KUTIYA

Southern Zone

100

MALAIMALASAR

Southern Zone

101

MALASAR

Southern Zone

102

MALAYAN

Southern Zone

103

MANNAN

Southern Zone

104

MOOPAN

Southern Zone

105

MUDUGA

Southern Zone

106

MUDUVAN

Southern Zone

107

PALIYA

Southern Zone

108

PULIYA

Southern Zone

109

SIDDI

Southern Zone

110

SOLIGA

Southern Zone

111

TODA

Southern Zone

112

URALI

Southern Zone

113

BARADI

West Central Zone

114

BHALA

West Central Zone

115

BHARWAD/BHARWADI

West Central Zone

116

DIWEHI

West Central Zone

117

NIHALI

West Central Zone

Annexure-II

Publications:

Sl.No.

Title

ISBN

Published:

Hakkipikki-Kannada-English Dictionary

978-93-94835-05-4

Malayan-Malayalam-English Dictionary

978-93-94835-06-1

Manda-Odia-English Dictionary

978-93-94835-25-2

Lamkang-English Dictionary

978-93-94835-27-6

Soliga-English-Kannada Trilingual Dictionary

978-93-94835-28-3

A Dictionary of Soliga-English

978-93-94835-30-6

Luro Dictionary

978-81-19411-54-2

SanenyoDictionary

978-81-19411-88-7

Publishing Varnamala, local rhymes, and stories in tribal languages.
Publishing books, journals on different tribal languages to promote tribal literature.
Translation and publication of Training module about Sickle cell Anaemia disease Awareness and Counselling Modules and Diagnosis & Treatment Module and other Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material in relevant Tribal languages/Dialects.