Shillong, Mar 17: Legislator from Siju constituency Rakkam Sangma on Thursday urged the Speaker of Meghalaya Legislative Assembly to hold the proceedings of the House in local languages on few occasions.

Joining the discussion on demand for inclusion and recognition of the Khasi and Garo Language in the Eighth Schedule in the Assembly, Sangma said they should not wait for someone to preserve and promote their native languages.

“We shouldn’t wait for someone to preserve and promote our language; we should do it on our own. We should also teach our curriculum in our mother tongue since we can attain more knowledge,” Sangma said.

Responding to his suggestion, District Council Affairs Minister Lahkmen Rymbui said the education department has already included Khasi and Garo languages in the elementary school.

Earlier, West Shillong MLA Mohendro Rapsang questioned why the Government of India has failed to adopt these two languages in the Eight Schedule. He asked if Khasi and Garo languages are already recognised under the Sixth Schedule and are the official languages in the Autonomous District Council, then why they are not being recognised in the Eight Schedule.

To this, Rymbui said the usage of language is different and including it in the Eight Schedule is different. He also reminded that the House has already sent a Resolution to Government of India to include these languages in the Eighth Schedule and till date the matter is pending with Government of India.

Mentionably, in 2018 the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the Centre to include Khasi and Garo languages in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution.