Bihar’s language academies, once bustling hubs of cultural enrichment, now teeter on the edge of extinction as they grapple with chronic understaffing and governmental indifference. These institutions, which used to thrive on linguistic diversity and community engagement, are now hindered by skeletal workforces, crippling their capacity to host events and publish new materials.
Despite this, the academy has the services of only three staff against 21 sanctioned posts, and even these staff members are deputed elsewhere.Bhojpuri Academy, founded in 1978 with a sanction of 24 staff, was mandated to preserve and promote the Bhojpuri language and culture. It has published 44 books and organised several literary activities to fulfil its objectives. At present, only two staff members are working in the academy, severely paralysing its activities.Magahi Academy was set up in 1981 to promote the Magahi dialect spoken in the Magadh region of southern Bihar and to enrich its literature. It has published 22 books in the Magahi language so far. Currently, the academy has only one staff member against 15 sanctioned posts.Bangla Academy, established in 1983, focuses on the Bengali language and culture prevalent in certain parts of the state. While it has published 22 books to cater to the literary needs of Bengali-speaking people in Bihar, it now has just one staff member against 16 sanctioned posts.Sanskrit Academy, founded in 1987, is dedicated to the preservation and research of the classical Sanskrit language. It has published 22 books in Sanskrit and organised seminars and symposia. Only three staff are working against 14 sanctioned posts in this academy.Angika Academy, established in 2015 for the development and promotion of the Angika language, has only one staff member at its disposal and, as a result, has made hardly any significant contribution to the promotion of the language so far.The South Indian Languages Organisation, set up in the late 1980s to promote south Indian languages in Bihar, was allowed to meet a premature end. Not a single post was sanctioned for the institute, nor was it allotted any space for office accommodation. Five of its “honorary” staff members were later absorbed into other academies.The appalling condition of these academies is evident from the fact that all of them, except the Hindi Granth Academy and the Angika Academy, are cramped into just three rooms of the Bihar Rashtra Bhasha Parishad.
While the Hindi Granth Academy functions from a separate building, the Angika Academy is yet to be allotted any office space.Linguist Bhairab Lal Das said none of these academies has had a full-time director for the past two decades. He said only an official of the rank of deputy director in the education department is currently overseeing the activities of all these academies.These institutions are also facing an acute shortage of staff.
Barely a dozen employees are left across all the academies against a total of nearly 100 sanctioned posts.Maithili Sahitya Sansthan treasurer Shiv Kumar Mishra expressed regret that the Maithili Academy, along with other language academies, is on its deathbed. He added that although the academy has published several popular books used by students preparing for civil services examinations, it is unable to supply these books to those in need.CM Nitish Kumar had announced in 2022 that all language academies in the state would be brought under one umbrella to ensure their proper functioning and growth. Education minister Sunil Kumar had also made a similar announcement sometime later. However, nothing concrete has been done in this regard so far, Das said.
