Meghalaya formed panel to expedite inclusion process of Khasi-language in Constitution

State Government of Meghalaya on 3 December 2014 constituted a committee to speed up the process of getting the Khasi-language included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India.

The 15-member committee will be headed by Deputy Chief Minister RC Laloo.

The committee was formed after Chief Minister Dr. Mukul Sangma in last week of November 2014 assured the assembly that the government will constitute a committee for the purpose.

About Khasi-language
• Khasi also known as as Khasia, Khassee, Cossyah or Kyin is a language of the Mon-Khmer linguistic branch
• Khasi language is recognized as the Associate Official Language of the state after the Meghalaya State Language Act, 2005 received the governor's assent on 1 May 2005
• The language is spoken by at least 1.5 million people in the Meghalaya, mainly by people of Khasi and Jaintia tribes
• The Khasi language has obtained credible status at the academic level and is included in the syllabus of graduate and post graduate studies of North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) enabling students to do research work in Khasi leading to the MPhil and PhD degrees
• The Khasi authors have been awarded with Bhasha Samman by the Sahitya Akademi in 1996 and 2012.
• Since 1971, Khasi community has been struggling to accord constitutional recognition of Khasi-language
• UNESCO on 6 April 2012 said that Khasi-language is no longer in danger and withdrew Khasi from its Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger