In a move to preserve and promote indigenous culture, the Tripura government has decided to integrate the Chakma language into the Google translation platform, enabling translations into English, Hindi and Bengali, said state Agriculture Minister Ratan Lal Nath on Tuesday.
The announcement was made following a meeting of the advisory committee on Chakma language development. “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,” Nath said.
The committee has already compiled 50,000 Chakma words, with another 50,000 set to be identified soon. This effort mirrors the earlier inclusion of Kokborok, the mother tongue of the Tripuri tribe, in Google Translate.
The government also declared that August 7 will be observed annually as Chakma Language and Script Day starting next year, further reinforcing the community’s cultural identity.
According to the 2011 Census, Tripura is home to 79,000 Chakma people, one of the 19 recognised tribes of the state. The community’s population has since grown to around 1.2 lakh. The Chakma language is currently taught in 123 government schools, where over 4,000 students from Classes I to VIII are enrolled.
To strengthen preservation efforts, the advisory committee has decided to form nine sub-committees dedicated to the overall development of the Chakma language and culture.
Nath emphasised that the move would not only safeguard the Chakma linguistic heritage but also make it more accessible to researchers, translators and the younger generation.
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