Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages of India

  • It is an initiative of MHRD.
  • The Government of India has initiated a Scheme known as “Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages of India”.  Under this Scheme, the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore works on protection, preservation and documentation of all the mother tongues/languages of India spoken by less than 10,000 speakers keeping in mind the degree of endangerment and reduction in the domains of usage.
  • According to the criteria adopted by the UNESCO, a language becomes extinct when nobody speaks or remembers the language.  The UNESCO has categorized languages on basis of endangerment as follows:-

(i) Vulnerable

(ii)           Definitely Endangered

(iii)         Severely Endangered

(iv)         Critically Endangered

The Critically Endangered Languages as per UNESCO Report are:

LANGUAGE/DIALECT                               SPOKEN MAINLY IN

  1. Aimol                                                   Manipur
  2. Aka                                                      Manipur
  3. Baghati                                     Himachal Pradesh
  4. Bangani                                                Uttarakhand
  5. Bellari                                                   Karnataka
  6. Birhor                                                   Jharkhand
  7. Gadaba                                                Andhra Pradesh
  8. Great Andamanese                               Andaman & Nicobar
  9. Handuri                                                Himachal Pradesh
  10. Jarawa                                                 Andaman & Nicobar
  11. Koireng                                                Manipur
  12. Koraga                                                 Karnataka
  13. Kota                                                    Tamil Nadu
  14. Kuruba                                                 Karnataka
  15. Lamgang                                              Manipur
  16. Lamongse                                             Andaman & Nicobar
  17. Langrong                                              Manipur
  18. Luro                                                     Andaman & Nicobar
  19. Manda                                                 Odisha
  20. Mra                                                      Arunachal Pradesh
  21. Muot                                                    Andaman & Nicobar
  22. Na                                                       Arunachal Pradesh
  23. Naiki                                                    Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh
  24. Nihali                                                   Maharashtra
  25. Onge                                                    Andaman & Nicobar
  26. Pangvali                                                Himachal Pradesh
  27. Parji                                                     Odisha
  28. Pengo                                                   Odisha
  29. Pu                                                        Andaman & Nicobar
  30. Purum                                                  Manipur
  31. Ruga                                                    Meghalaya
  32. Sanenyo                                               Andaman & Nicobar
  33. Sentilese                                               Andaman & Nicobar
  34. Shompen                                              Andaman & Nicobar
  35. Sirmaudi                                               Himachal Pradesh
  36. Tai Nora                                              Assam
  37. Tai Rong                                              Assam
  38. Takahanyilang                                       Andaman & Nicobar
  39. Tangam                                                Arunachal Pradesh
  40. Tarao                                                   Manipur
  41. Toda                                                    Tamil Nadu
  42. Toto                                                     West Bengal

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