Team Herald
MARGAO: The Global Konknni Forum (GKF) has called on Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to ‘rise above petty politics’ and show statesmanship by supporting the introduction of Roman Konkani in schools and granting it equal status alongside Devanagari in the Official Language Act (OLA).
Kennedy Afonso, President of GKF, announced that the forum plans to meet with the Chief Minister and all MLAs to present a draft of the official language amendment Bill. This Bill seeks to grant Roman script equal status with Devanagari in the OLA and propose a phased introduction of Roman Konkani in school curriculums from grades I to X.
Afonso highlighted that during the 25th anniversary of the Dalgado Konkani Academy in 2012, Fr Pratap Naik had presented five demands to then-Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, one of which was the introduction of Romi Lipi as a subject in schools. Parrikar had publicly acknowledged the issue and had even drafted an ordinance to address it, although it was never implemented.
The GKF also noted that in 2016, Deputy Speaker Vishnu Surya Wagh had advocated for the inclusion of Roman script Konkani in schools. Despite these efforts, the government has yet to act on this matter.
Afonso criticised the opposition from the Devanagari lobby, which argues that including Roman script in the OLA would fragment Konkani and weaken the growth of Devanagari. He questioned why the government is preventing the introduction of Roman script in schools, risking the decline of Roman Konkani, which is slowly dying out.