Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday said that Maithili will be made an optional subject from Class VIII to XII in all Delhi government schools. The government will also organise a five-day Maithili-Bhojpuri festival in Connaught Place in November.
During a press conference here, Mr. Sisodia said that the Delhi government will also arrange free coaching for students taking Maithili as optional subject in the civil service examinations.
Now, there will also be awards of upto ₹2.5 lakh cash prize for those who work for Maithili-Bhojpuri arts, culture, journalism, theatre and others, he said.
The Deputy Chief Minister also said that though Maithili is included in the 8th schedule of the Constitution, Bhojpuri is not. “I want to introduce Bhojpuri in schools as an optional language, I will write to the Centre as the Chairman of the Maithili-Bhojpuri academy to include Bhojpuri in the 8th schedule of the Constitution,” he added.
He added that there is no computer font for Maithili. “The Delhi government has taken a major step to have a font for the language. The government is in touch with Pune-based C-DAC for the same. We will get C-DAC to make the Maithili font and then will give it to the users,” he said.