Meghalaya CM for use of Khasi and Garo languages in Assembly

Shillong, July 5 (PTI): Seeking to promote the use of local languages in the Assembly, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has said that MLAs should be allowed to speak and debate in Khasi and Garo languages inside it.

An Assembly official told PTI that Sangma had a discussion on the issue with Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh and leaders of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance on the use of the two languages in the coming session of the Assembly.

While English is the official language in Meghalaya, Khasi and Garo languages are considered its associated official languages.

Taking to the Twitter, Conrad said on Monday Members in Meghalaya Legislative Assembly should be allowed to speak and debate in Khasi and Garo languages in the House. A step towards promoting our languages.

When asked, he told journalists We are of the opinion that both Khasi and Garo languages should be allowed to be used to a certain extent with translation in the Assembly .

The development comes in the wake of several discussions initiated by the state government to get the local languages included in the eighth schedule of the Constitution of India.

The official said the Assembly secretariat could take some time to prepare itself for the transition and work is on to allow members to debate and speak in their native languages apart from English.