10 Feb 2023  |   06:40am IST

Goa Governor takes Konkani to Mangaluru, Kochi

Konkani institutes will be started in Mangaluru and Kochi; P S Sreedharan Pillai says there is wider acceptance of Konkani in more than three to four States; feels Konkani was not getting its much-deserved share in language arena

Team Herald

VASCO: Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai said that two Konkani institutes will be started in Mangaluru and Kochi soon.

Pillai was speaking at the release of a book at MES College premises, Zuarinagar on Thursday.

Pillai said that it was time to take steps to strengthen the Konkani language being spoken in other States besides Goa as its mother tongue.

The Governor disclosed that in his native Kerala, more than 1.5 lakh people have Konkani as their mother tongue and they are speaking Konkani in their homes. He said that he also found that in many parts of Karnataka and Maharashtra also lakhs of people speak Konkani as their mother tongue.

He said, “As Chancellor of Goa University, I feel that institutions must protect the interest of the local people.”

“The local language should be given maximum importance,” he said.

Stating that there is wider acceptance of Konkani in more than three to four States across the country, he felt that Konkani was not getting its much-deserved share in the language arena. He said that he has already asked other Universities to start promoting the Konkani language in Mangaluru in Karnataka and Cochin in Kerala and Konkani institutes will start at these two places soon.