The birth anniversary of Agam Singh Giri, considered one of the tallest poets among Indian Gorkhas, was celebrated with much fanfare across the hills on Friday.

However, what stood out was a social worker who has started to promote the Nepali language among hill students.

Bikram Rai, a social worker from Sitong in Kurseong subdivision, has started providing one-time scholarship to students who excel in the Nepali language.

He has so far covered 21 hill schools.

“I realised that young students from our region are showing little interest in studying the Nepali language. In fact, I came across a situation where senior school students could not write properly in Nepali language,” Rai told
The Telegraph.

Since this year, Rai provides anything between ₹10,000 and ₹15,000 to students who top their schools in Nepali subject during board examinations.

“I am also providing anything between ₹2,000 and ₹1,000 to the class topper in Nepali language in these schools,” added Rai.

Additionally, Rai also supports the studies of 13 other students from across the hills. “The amount is not much as the cost of education in government schools is not
very high.”

Suraj Sharma, an author who has translated books from Bengali to Nepali and also from Nepali to Bengali lauded the efforts of Rai.

“This is walking the talk instead of only talking about the importance Nepali language on the birth anniversaries of Agam Singh Giri or (poet) Bhanubhakta Acharya or on the Nepali language recognition day,” said Sharma.

The birth anniversary of Bhanubhakta is observed on July 13 while the Nepali language day is marked on August 20.

The Lok Sabha had passed a motion to add the Nepali language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution in 1992.

The recognition had come after a struggle of nearly 40 years.

“On such important days, everyone rues the lack of initiative to promote Nepali language but there have been no concrete efforts to encourage students to take up the study of Nepali language seriously,” added Sharma.

Giri, who was born on December 27, 1927 died at a relatively young age of 44 on January 31, 1971.

However, he left an indelible mark as a prolific poet whose writings delved into political debates like identity, self-determination and homeland, and the tribulations of Indian Gorkhas.

In 2020, Anit Thapa, the chief executive of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), had rued the lack of people during the Giri Jayanti celebrations in Darjeeling.

“Agam Singh Giri united our community, evoked community feeling amongst us. We take pride in saying that he is an icon of our community, an asset, but today, even this small hall is not filled to its capacity,” Thapa had said at the event organised by the GTA at Gorkha Rangamanch Bhavan here.

Just around 100 people had attended the event that year in a hall that could fit up to 700 people. However, the pandemic could have been a reason.