Ranchi: Four ‘Bihari’ langauges will soon become ‘official’ in Jharkhand via ordinance.

The Jharkhand state cabinet on Wednesday (March 21) resolved to promulgate an ordinance to grant second official language status to Maithili, Angika, Bhojpuri and Magahi, in addition to 12 existing ones.

As per 2011 Census report, 1,835,273, 656,393 and 114,184 people, respectively, speak Magahi, Bhojpuri and Maithili in Jharkhand. There is no official record of Angika as this language did not appear in the Census survey form. But, it is widely spoken in Dumka, Jamtara, Godda, Deoghar, Sahebganj and Pakur.

“Angika has been a recognised language in this state as per a notification issued by the home department on February 19, 2009. Angika also appeared in the list of optional subjects for the appointment of school teachers as per a 2012 notification that was approved by personnel, administrative reforms and raj bhasha department,” said home department principal secretary S.K.G. Rahate, who also holds additional charge in cabinet coordination and personnel departments.

Twelve other languages, including nine local tribal languages and Urdu, Bengali, Oriya enjoy second official language status in the Jharkhand.