Government notifications across Assam will now be issued in Bodo in all districts with significant Bodo populations, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Sunday, marking a significant step toward linguistic inclusion and regional identity.
Speaking at an official ceremony in Kokrajhar, Sarma said, “As per the demand of the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU), the state government will make it compulsory for all the government notifications to be translated into the Bodo language in all the 13 Bodo inhabited districts of the state.”
The announcement was made during the launch of ‘Bodoland Speaks: From Vision to Action’, a new initiative under the Bodoland Territorial Council’s ‘Bodoland Happiness Mission’. The mission aims to foster peace, cultural rejuvenation, and development within the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).
At the function, the Chief Minister also presented the Bodoland Lifetime Achievers Award to 18 individuals recognised for their contribution to folk culture and community enrichment in the BTR.
Reflecting on the region’s troubled past, Sarma noted that demands for Bodo self-determination had previously sown fear and unrest among various communities.
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“People spent their time in fear. As a result, people indulged in agitation to protect themselves. However, changing the dynamics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the year 2014 ushered in an era of peace and tranquillity,” he said.
Sarma credited the 2020 tripartite peace accord, signed between the Centre, the Assam government, and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), for transforming the long-troubled region into a zone of promise and stability.
He called upon the Bodo community and the 26 other tribal groups residing in the BTR to safeguard this progress. “Maintaining peace and harmony in the BTR is a shared responsibility, and the Bodo community, including the 26 tribal communities residing in the region, are playing a pivotal role. Peace has the potential of transforming BTR into an economic powerhouse,” the Chief Minister said.
The translation of official notifications into Bodo is expected to enhance administrative transparency, ease of communication, and respect for the cultural identity of one of Assam’s key indigenous communities.
The move is being viewed as a significant political and symbolic gesture to reaffirm the region’s hard-earned peace, as well as to preserve and promote the Bodo language.
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