Agartala: The Tripura government has decided to include words of the Chakma language in the Google translation platform, allowing the tribal language to be translated into English, Hindi, and Bengali. This move aims to protect the language and culture of the indigenous community.
Agriculture Minister Ratan Lal Nath announced the decision, stating that an advisory committee for the development of the Chakma language made the decision during a meeting on Tuesday.
In addition to the Google partnership, the government will also observe the Chakma language and script day annually on August 7, starting next year. This initiative is another step toward preserving the rich cultural heritage of the Chakma people in the state.
“The panel decided to include words of the Chakma language in the Google translation platform so that the content in the tribal language can be converted into English, Hindi and Bengali,” Nath said.
He said the committee had already collected 50,000 words of the Chakma language, and 50,000 more will be identified shortly.
Kokborok, the mother tongue of the Tripuri tribe, has already been introduced in the Google translation platform.
According to the 2011 census, the northeastern state has 79,000 people belonging to the Chakma community, one of the 19 tribes in the state, and the population of this group has now grown to around 1,20,000, he said.
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The Chakma language is being taught in 123 government schools, in which over 4,000 students from classes I to VIII are studying, the minister stated.
He said that the advisory committee had also decided to constitute nine sub-committees for the overall development of the language.
