DoNER under secy reviews literary project in Arunachal

Itanagar: The Union ministry of development of north eastern region (DoNER) under secretary Parna Sahana has visited the RIWATCH Centre for Mother Languages (RCML) at Khinjili near Roing in Lower Dibang Valley district.

Sahana inspected the ongoing project — ‘Promotion of Literary Development of Mother Languages of Arunachal Pradesh' — supported by the North Eastern Council (NEC) through the department of indigenous affairs, a media statement from RCML said on Thursday.

She praised the RCML for its impactful work in documenting and promoting the linguistic heritage of the state and appreciated RCML's activities, including publications in different languages and language promotional programmes undertaken among the native speakers, school students and teachers.

The official encouraged the centre to conduct more research, documentation and awareness programmes and also emphasised the importance of developing more children's literature in mother languages.

She also released three pictorial glossary books in Singpho language, published by RCML. These publications are the result of a collaborative effort between RCML's research team and members of the Singpho community.

Speaking on the occasion, department of indigenous affairs director, Sokhep Kri urged the centre to expand its initiative to all tribal communities across the state. He assured continued support from the department in these endeavours.

RIWATCH executive director Vijay Swami emphasised the need for language preservation to maintain cultural identity. He reiterated RIWATCH's commitment to documenting and safeguarding Arunachal's diverse linguistic landscape through audio-visual documentation.

RCML head Mechek Sampar Awan presented a detailed report of the centre's activities since its inception and future plans to strengthen language documentation and resource development.