New Delhi, November 20 (IANS). President Draupadi Murmu says that there is a need to keep children engaged in ‘self study’ from the very beginning. He said that any person can become a good reader by doing self-study since childhood. He highlighted the need to create entertaining and comprehensible children’s literature.
President Draupadi Murmu was present at the 36th Annual Conference and Literary Festival of All India Santhali Writers Association in Baripada, Odisha on Monday. Here he said that emphasis should be laid not only on Santhali literature but also on creating interesting children’s literature in all Indian languages. India is a beautiful garden of different languages and literature.
RRC Recruitment 2023: Recruitment in Railway Recruitment Cell, around 2,000 posts, watch video
He also said that language and literature are the subtle threads that bind the nation together and literature is enriched only by extensive exchange between different languages. This work is possible through translation. He said that the readers of Santhali language should also be introduced to the literature of other languages through translation. He stressed the need for similar efforts to bring Santhali literature to readers in other languages.
On this occasion, the President praised the writers and researchers contributing to Santhali language and literature. He appreciated that All India Santhali Writers Association has been promoting Santhali language since its inception in 1988.
He said that the use of Santhali language has increased in government and non-government sectors after its inclusion in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution on December 22, 2003. He used the occasion to remember former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, during whose tenure Santhali language was included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
The President said that most of the Santhali literature is available in the oral tradition. Pandit Raghunath Murmu not only invented the Ol Chiki script, but he further enriched the Santhali language by composing plays like ‘Bidu Chandan’, ‘Kherwal Bir’, ‘Darge Dhan’, ‘Sido-Kanhu-Santhal Hool’. Have done. He highlighted that many Santhali writers are enriching Santhali literature through their writing work.
He said it is a matter of pride that Damayanti Besra and Kali Pada Saren – popularly known as Kherwal Saren – have been awarded the Padma Shri in 2020 and 2022 for education and literature respectively.
The President said that writers are vigilant sentinels of the society. They make the society aware and guide it through their actions. During the freedom struggle, many litterateurs showed the path to our national movement. He also urged the writers to continuously create awareness in the society through their writings.