Patna, Nov 19 (PTI) The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking the grant of "classical language" status to Maithili.
The letter by state Education Minister Sunil Kumar, dated November 18, has been shared on X by JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha, a close aide of the Bihar chief minister.
"I thank Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on behalf of residents of Mithila region for the formal request made by the Bihar education department, to the Centre, for grant of classical language (shastriya bhasha) status to Maithili," Jha wrote on the micro-blogging site.
The Rajya Sabha MP disclosed that he had broached the issue last month, with officials of the Union Ministry for Culture, at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture.
"We believe that grant of classical language status to Maithili will give a boost to efforts being made for its preservation and enrichment. It will be an honour for the linguistic heritage of Bihar and Mithila and facilitate the spread of the profound knowledge that can be found in its ancient literature," he said.
In the letter addressed to Shah, the minister has highlighted that Maithili was included in the eighth schedule way back in 2003 and it was now a medium of instruction as well as used in administrative work.
The minister has also pointed out that Maithili was "spoken by residents of an area of about 30,000 square miles, in Bihar, bordering areas of Nepal and adjoining Jharkhand", and as such, grant of classical language status was "not just a matter of prestige".
The minister has also said that the Maithili script was used in texts composed at the ancient seats of learning in Nalanda and Vikramshila "as evident from rare manuscripts brought from Tibet by Mahapandit Rahul Sankriyayan and the language fulfilled "all the criteria" for grant of classical status.