The Naveen Patnaik government on Wednesday announced a series of steps in order to promote the Odia language, including setting up a corpus fund worth Rs 10 crore to facilitate the research on the language at the national and international level.

The research work on the Odia language will be carried out through the newly built Odia University at Satyabadi in Puri district. It has also announced the setting up of chairs on the Odia language at different universities of national repute.

An announcement to this effect was made by the Odia language, literature and culture minister Aswini Patra at the state Assembly on Wednesday.

The steps were taken based on the recommendation of the first-ever Odia Bhasa Sammilani (World Odia Language Conference).

The state government decided to organise an international Odia conference once in a year in digital mode. All the prominent writers and linguists would be connected through the digital platform. An expert team will be constituted in order to bring a standardisation on the use of computers in terms of Odia keyboard and fonts.

In the first step, teachers will be appointed at 1,500 high schools to teach Odia. Later on, in a phased manner, all the vacancies for Odia teachers will be filled up.

The state government also decided to give a grant of Rs 1 crore to all those schools and colleges which had completed 100 years. The universities which were established before independence would get a grant of Rs 2 crore.

Steps will be taken to translate Odia books into other languages. An interim policy will be introduced on how to impart various studies such as medical, science and technical courses through the medium of Odia language. The state government also decided that every year 100 scholars would be selected and later felicitated by the chief minister. Debate competitions would be organised among the students in Odia.

Libraries will be opened in order to promote study habits. The state government will also help in setting up libraries in different states and abroad.

The printing museum in Cuttack will be accorded the status of national museum on printing and the printing technologies available across the globe will be displayed at the museum.

The state government will also provide a grant in aid of Rs 2 crore to make Odishan Institute of Maritime and South East Asian Studies (OIMSEAS) a centre of excellence. Steps would be taken to promote children’s literature, and establishment of chairs on the Odia language in different universities.

The state government also decided to publish an international journal on Odia
studies.

An Odia learning management system will be developed for those students who reside outside the state. They can read Odia up to Class VIII using the application.