In his letter to Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Pradhan said, “I seek your personal intervention in the implementation of the values enshrined in the New Education Policy 2020 and to preserve the best interests of Odia speaking school children in Jharkhand.” I’m writing.”
“I would like to underline the shared history of Odisha and Jharkhand that goes back centuries and binds the two states together till date. Seraikela and Kharsawan districts in Jharkhand were once Odia-speaking princely states and two of the 26 garhjats There were one Odisha state,” he said. The Union minister further added, “During the state reorganization exercise in 1948, these two princely states were merged with the erstwhile Bihar state which has become present-day Jharkhand. It is estimated that about two million Oriya-speaking people live in Jharkhand today, concentrated around Kolhan. Division of Jharkhand consisting of Seraikela-Kharsawan, East Singhbhum and West Singhbhum districts apart from small population in Ranchi, Gumla, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Simdega, Lahardega and Latehar districts.
In another letter to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Pradhan sought individual intervention for a harmonious solution to the issues related to Odia language based education in border villages of the state.
“Odisha and Andhra Pradesh share similar cultures and many interests related to promoting the native languages of the respective states in the border villages,” he said.
The Education Minister further said that after the demarcation of the border between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, some schools in the border areas of Odisha as well as Andhra Pradesh have merged with the school systems in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha respectively.
“As a result, many Odia and Telugu speaking children in schools in both the states have become minority groups whose native languages need to be supported,” he said.
He said, “To resolve this situation, both the state governments had entered into an agreement to meet the needs of students who want to learn their respective languages (Telugu in Odisha and Odia in Andhra Pradesh) in schools. ”
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