Chakma language words to be included in Google translation platform: Tripura minister

Agartala, Sep 9 (PTI) The Tripura government on Tuesday 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, a state minister said.

Agriculture Minister Ratan Lal Nath said the government also decided to observe Chakma language and script day on August 7 from next year onwards in a bid to protect the culture of the indigenous people in the state.

He said an advisory committee for the development of the Chakma language took these decisions in a meeting during the day.

"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," the minister said.

For this purpose, the committee has already collected 50,000 words of the Chakma language, and 50,000 more will be identified shortly, he said.

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.

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 said.

"A total of 172 Chakma-speaking teachers are engaged in these schools. The advisory committee also decided to constitute nine sub-committees for the overall development of the language," he said.

He also emphasised the development of the languages of all the tribes living in the northeastern state. PTI PS BDC