Kathmandu- The Madhesh Province government has proposed to keep Hindi and English as official languages ​​in the Official Languages ​​Bill, 2081.

The bill presented by Education and Culture Minister Rani Kumari Sharma Tiwari on Wednesday proposes to make Maithili, Bhojpuri, Bajjika, Hindi and English as official languages ​​in addition to Nepali. However, Tharu, the mother tongue recommended by the Language Commission as the official language, has not been included in the bill.

The list of official languages ​​recommended by the Language Commission in Madhesh Province shows that Maithili is the top language spoken by 41.73 percent. It is followed by Bhojpuri by 18.81 percent, Bajjika by 18.44 percent, Nepali by 5.76 percent, Tharu by 4.17 percent, Urdu by 4.8 percent, Magahi by 3.52 percent, Tamang by 1.65 percent, Magar Dhut by 0.73 percent and Hindi by 0.23 percent. However, some MPs have also objected to the bill saying that the bill does not include Tharu, which is in the fifth place, and proposes to keep Hindi, which is in the last place, and English, which was not even included in the recommendation, as the official languages.

While recommending the official languages ​​to the provincial government, it was decided to recommend 2 languages ​​based on linguistic preference and 3 languages ​​based on more than 6 percent or majority, but the MPs of political parties are doing whatever they like,said Language Commission Chairman Gopal Thakur.

Ministers and MPs from the ruling party of Madhesh Province have also expressed their objection to the bill brought by the government and have warned that they will not allow the parliament to function if the Tharu language is not included in the bill.