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Mumbai: The National Council for the Promotion of Sindhi Language has announced a novel scheme to preserve the language and ensure that more young people learn the language.
The council will distribute Rs 25,000 to Sindhi panchayats, educational institutions, and cultural groups, to organise programmes to promote the language at the grassroots level. This will include language classes, literature meets, and cultural programmes in the language.
The payment, available to registered and audited community groups, will reimburse these organisations for the money spent on the programmes. Honorariums paid to poets, speakers, academicians, and costs incurred in setting up the venues will be covered under the programme.
Rakshita Manglani of RaksArt Events, which is planning cultural and entertainment programmes in the language said that the Sindhi Promotion programme supported by the council would help young generations of Sindhis who are less familiar with their culture.
"The funds are not substantial, but it will be sufficient if we organise events at schools, colleges, and other venues where we do not have to pay rentals," said Manglani who organises events at Bandra, Khar, and Ulhasnagar which have a large number of Sindhi speakers. RaksArt Events is organising an 'open mic' event online on July 28 with the theme 'promotion of Sindhi language and culture'.
Manglani, a resident of Ulhasnagar, learned the language by taking up a diploma course long after she graduated with a bachelor's degree in education. "We as a generation are losing the language and every effort made to revive it should be appreciated," she added.
The plan to fund programmes promoting the language is one of the schemes launched by the NCPSL to preserve the Sindhi language which is declining in use as the younger generation switch to other languages like Hindi.
The National Institute of Open Schooling is publishing a new batch of school textbooks in the language for distribution in affiliated schools, especially those run by Sindhi associations.
"You have to make an effort to teach the language and we will have to do it when the older generation, which knows the language, is alive," said Asha Chand from the cultural group Sindhi Sangat. A Cheti Chand (Sindhi New Year) function in Mumbai in April 2024
