Team Herald
MARGAO: Emphasising the importance of preserving the Roman script as a vital part of Konkani heritage, Aldona MLA Carlos
Alvares Ferreira on Wednesday assured the Global Konknni Forum (GKF) of his full support for the Konkani Roman script issue and said that the preservation of the Roman script is crucial.
Members of the Global Konknni Forum (GKF) and supporters of the Roman script from the Aldona constituency met the MLA to seek his backing for their movement.
Kennedy Afonso, president of the Global Konknni Forum (GKF), said that the MLA acknowledged the group’s demands as fair.
“The MLA emphasised that GKF is not opposed to the inclusion of Devnagari or Marathi; rather, they seek to protect their fundamental rights as religious and linguistic minorities in Goa, as outlined in Article 29(1) of the Indian Constitution. This article ensures the protection of the cultural and educational rights of minorities, reinforcing the importance of safeguarding the Konkani Roman script alongside other scripts. On introducing Roman Script Konkani in schools, the MLA said that he will table the resolution in the House, within the framework of legal parameters enshrined in the Constitution of India,” Afonso informed.
He said that the MLA assured the GKF that he will speak to other MLAs in Opposition and ruling MLAs to support the resolution, and has also appealed to people to support the Romi Script movement, under the leadership of Global Konknni Forum. GKF said that if the issue is not resolved in the Legislative Assembly, the MLA said that he would explore all angles, and not hesitate to take the matter into the court of law, as a last resort. GKF presented the MLA with the two bills in favour of Roman Script, to be proposed and passed in the forthcoming Assembly session in December.
The first Bill is to amend the Official Language Act to include Roman Script along with Devanagari, and the second is for the introduction of Konkani in Roman Script, from Class I to Class X in a phased manner.