THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
Baripada, Nov 20: President Draupadi Murmu today said that Santhali children should be provided with the facility to read short stories in Ol Chiki script so that they can develop the language in future.
There is a need to keep children engaged in self-study right from the beginning, Murmu said, adding that anyone can become a good reader by doing self-study since childhood. She highlighted the need to create entertaining and comprehensible children’s literature. She stated that emphasis should be laid on creating interesting children’s literature not only in Santhali literature but in all Indian languages.
She was speaking at the 36th Annual Conference and Literary Festival of All India Santali Writers’ Association at Baripada in Odisha on Monday.
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Odisha Governor Raghubar Das, and many prominent Santali educationists from Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Assam participated in the conference.
Speaking on the occasion, the President appreciated writers and researchers who are contributing to the Santhali language and literature. She appreciated that the All India Santali Writers’ Association has been promoting the Santhali language since its establishment in 1988.
She noted that the use of Santhali language has been increased in government and non-government sectors, after its inclusion in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. She remembered former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, during whose tenure Santhali language was included in the Eighth Schedule.
The President said Pandit Raghunath Murmu has not only invented the Ol Chiki script, but he has also further enriched the Santhali language by composing plays like ‘Bidu Chandan’, ‘Kherwal Bir’, ‘Darege Dhan’, ‘Sido- Kanhu – Santhal Hool’. Iit is a matter of pride that Damayanti Besra and Kali Pada Saren – popularly known as Kherwal Saren – have been honoured with Padma Shri in 2020 and 2022 respectively for education and literature, she said.
Stating that literature is a mirror of the culture of a community, the President said the natural co-existence of humans with nature is seen in the tribal lifestyle. She added that the tribal communities believe that the forest does not belong to them but they belong to the forest. She highlighted that today climate change is a huge problem and nature-friendly living is very important to tackle this issue. She urged writers to write about the lifestyles of tribal communities so that other people could know about the life values of tribal society.
