Demand for inclusion of Lepcha language in 8th Schedule

PRAKASH ADHIKARI, EOI, GANGTOK, APRIL 6, 2023 : Former Sikkim MLA and Chief Convenor of All India Committee for Inclusion of Lepcha Language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution of India Norzang Lepcha has demanded for the Lepcha Language to be included in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. 

Norzang Lepcha along with other committee members will submit a memorandum to the Sikkim Government, the Centre and the Union Home Ministry for the inclusion of the language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. 

Lepcha has said that the committee was formed in 2018 at the national level but had started working now. Informing that the Lepcha language had got the official recognition in1977, he said it was pure and comprehensive without any abuse or slang in the language. 

He said that since the demand for inclusion of Lepcha language in the 8thSchedule had been mentioned in Article 351 of the Constitution, the language was worth including. 

“It is our fundamental right that the language should be included in the 8th Schedule,” he added. He also stressed that the language was closely related to nature so it could be a great help to the research scholars. 

He also said that the Lepcha population all over the country was over 300,000.He also expressed gratitude to Rajya Sabha MP from West Bengal Shanta Chettri for putting up the demand for the inclusion of the Lepcha language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.