3 days ago
Rs35.7 lakh push to document, preserve Madiya language
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Nagpur: The state govt has sanctioned Rs35.73 lakh for the Madiya Language Project at Riddhapur's Marathi Language University to safeguard one of the rarest Gond languages, spoken only in select pockets of Chandrapur and Gadchiroli.
Madiya, a dialect steeped in oral traditions, songs and folklore, survives mainly among scattered Gond hamlets in Vidarbha's forest belt, especially in Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts. However, decades of migration and the growing dominance of mainstream languages have left it vulnerable, with fewer young speakers carrying it forward.
A Government Resolution (GR) issued by the Marathi Language Department on Monday confirmed the sanction under the State Marathi Development Institute's grants.
The amount will fund the project's further work — part of an ongoing initiative to document the dialect in a systematic manner.
Vice-chancellor Dr Avinash Awalgaonkar told TOI that the project aligns with the university's expanded mandate following discussions in Mumbai after Marathi was granted the status of a classical language. "One important point that came to the fore was the conservation of other Marathi dialects spoken in various parts of Maharashtra.
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The state has entrusted the university with that responsibility."
In one of the first such initiatives, led by researcher Manjiri Paranjpe who has worked extensively on Madiya, the university will be publishing her and her team's work. "The university will pitch wherever the gaps are needed to be fulfilled. This includes various documents, vocabulary lists, dictionaries, and books purely on the Madiya language," Dr Awalgaonkar said.
The Madiya project is just the beginning. The VC said, "We also have other proposals in the pipeline. There are many such dialects, especially among the tribals, which are on the verge of extinction and that need to be conserved, documented for future generations."
The GR notes that the Madiya Language Project was initiated to document the dialect and ensure its preservation in written form. The latest funding will support this effort, with the goal of creating a permanent linguistic record.
Language scholars believe the project could serve as a model for preserving other endangered tribal tongues in Maharashtra. By formally documenting Madiya, they say, the university is helping ensure that the Gond community's voice — and the worldview embedded in its words — will not fade into silence.
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