A case for including Tulu in the Eighth Schedule
Paper: GS-II
Topic: Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions, basic structure and regional-Cultural Importance.
For Prelims: Eighth Schedule and its languages.
For Mains: Reasons and Importance of the Tulu Language to included in the Eighth Schedule.
Why in news?
- Tulu is not an official language in India or any other country. Efforts are being made to include Tulu in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. If included in the Eighth Schedule, Tulu would get recognition from the Sahitya Akademi.
Languages in India:
- According to the 2001 Census, India has 30 languages that are spoken by more than a million people each.
- Additionally, it has 122 languages that are spoken by at least 10,000 people each. It also has 1,599 languages, most of which are dialects.
- These are restricted to specific regions and many of them are on the verge of extinction. India must accommodate this plethora of languages in its cultural discourse and administrative apparatus.
Why Tulu Language should get the Eighth Schedule?
- Tulu is a textbook example of linguistic discrimination. Tulu is a Dravidian language whose speakers are concentrated in two coastal districts of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district of Kerala.
- Kasaragod district is called ‘Saptabhasha Samgama Bhumi (the confluence of seven languages)’, and Tulu is among the seven.
- The Census reports 18,46,427 native speakers of Tulu in India. The Tulu-speaking people are larger in number than speakers of Manipuri and Sanskrit, which have the Eighth Schedule status.
- Robert Caldwell (1814-1891), in his book, A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, called Tulu as “one of the most highly developed languages of the Dravidian family”.
- The present-day Tulu linguistic majority area is confined to the region of Tulu Nadu, which comprises the districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi in Karnataka and the northern part of Kasaragod district of Kerala up to the river Payaswani, or Chandragiri. The cities of Mangaluru, Udupi and Kasaragod are the epicenters of Tulu culture.
- Tulu has thousands of the Speakers, still don’t have kept in the Eighth Schedule while many languages have fewer speakers and have the position in the Schedule. For example, Sanskrit, an Eighth Schedule language, has only 24,821 speakers (2011 Census). Manipuri, another scheduled language, has only 17,61,079 speakers.
- However, many unscheduled languages have a sizeable number of speakers: Bhili/Bhilodi has 1,04,13,637 speakers; Gondi has 29,84,453 speakers; Garo has 11,45,323; Ho has 14,21,418; Khandeshi, 18,60,236; Khasi, 14,31,344; and Oraon, 19,88,350.
What does the Constitution says?
- Article 29 of the Constitution provides that a section of citizens having a distinct language, script or culture have the right to conserve the same.
- Both the state and the citizens have an equal responsibility to conserve the distinct language, script and culture of a people.
- Among the legion of languages in India, the Constitution has 22 languages. They are protected in Schedule VIII of the Constitution. But many languages that are kept out of this favoured position are in some ways more deserving to be included in the Eighth Schedule.
Advantages of Eighth Schedule:
- At present, Tulu is not an official language in India or any other country. Efforts are being made to include Tulu in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. If included in the Eighth Schedule, Tulu would get recognition from the Sahitya Akademi.
- Tulu books would be translated into other recognised Indian languages.
- Members of Parliament and MLAs could speak in Tulu in Parliament and State Assemblies, respectively.
- Candidates could write all-India competitive examinations like the Civil Services exam in Tulu.
Yuelu Proclamation:
- The Yuelu Proclamation, made by the UNESCO at Changsha, The People’s Republic of China, in 2018, says: “The protection and promotion of linguistic diversity helps to improve social inclusion and partnerships, helps to reduce the gender and social inequality between different native speakers, guarantee the rights for native speakers of endangered, minority, indigenous languages, as well as non-official languages and dialects to receive education, enhance the social inclusion level and social decision-making ability by encouraging them to participate in a series of actions to promote cultural diversity, endangered language protection, and the protection of intangible cultural heritage.”
Conclusion:
- Placing of all the deserving languages on equal footing will promote social inclusion and national solidarity.
- It will reduce the inequalities within the country to a great extent. So, Tulu, along with other deserving languages, should be included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
- Also, in order to substantially materialize the promise of equality of status and opportunity mentioned in the Preamble, deserving languages should be included in the Schedule.
Blaze down under
Paper: GS III
Topic: Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.
For Prelims: Climatology of world, Australia’s Bush Fire, Climate Change, Global Warming.
For Mains: Need for conservation and government policy to save the environment.
Why in News: In Australia’s bushfires lie warnings about the complex ways in which climate variables interact.
Australia’s raging bushfires, and the mounting climate emergency
- Bushfires are routine in Australia, but authorities are calling this season the worst on record.
- This year, the fires started in August, much before the Southern Hemisphere summer (December to February), and have been aggravated by an impending drought and record high temperatures.
- The raging wildfires in Australia brought the death toll to at least 18 people nationwide. The Australian military has now deployed ships and aircraftto help affected communities.
- The air quality in the capital Canberra severely plummeted, with PM2.5 levels in the Monash suburb soaring above 3,700. The city, whose air quality is usually among the best in the world, took the top spot on the Air-Visual pollution rankings (AEDT time zone), with Delhi at number two.
Why is this year’s bushfire season especially severe?
- Bushfires are actually a part of Australia’s ecosystem. It is hot, dry, and prone to droughts, and, in some parts of the country, to bushfires.
- Many plants depend on bushfires to cycle nutrients and clear vegetation.
- In fact, eucalyptus trees in Australia depend on fire to release their seeds.
- But all this usually happens during a few weeks in late January-February, when the country is at its driest.
- The prolonged blaze this year has coincided with Australia’s harshest summer.
- Such fires happen when grass, branches, and trees start to burn in an uncontrolled
- In New South Wales and Queensland, the risk of bushfires peaks during the spring and early summer.
- Much of Australia is facing a drought that is a result of three consecutive summers with very little precipitation. This, according to climate scientists, is unprecedented.
- This summer, Australia has witnessed its worst drought in more than five decades, and a heat-wave has sent the mercury soaring to temperatures above 41 degrees Celsius.
- Scientists have said that the conditions demonstrate the effects of climate change.
What is the extent of the damage?
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s 2018 State of the Climate report notes, “Australia’s climate has warmed by just over 1 degree Celsius since 1910, leading to an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events.” This has led to more rainfall in northern Australia but created drought-like conditions in the more densely populated southeast.
- Military planes and ships are now assisting towns as many highways have had to be closed due to the fires.
- About 5 million hectares (12.35 million acres), an area as large as Denmark has turned to cinders as bushfires have ravaged large parts of Australia of land and have burned nationwide over the past few months, with more than 1,000 homes destroyed.
- At the coastal Mallacoota town in Victoria state people escaped from impending fires and rushed to the shore. Some slept in their cars and at petrol pumps, and at surf clubs converted into evacuation areas.
- A few houses burned, but a change in the wind direction later that day saved the rest of the town. Military ships were being moved to the town to bring vital supplies.
- Australia is home to nearly 250 animal species, some of them like the koalas and kangaroos are not found elsewhere. But the region also has the highest rate of native animals going extinct over the past 200 years. Wildlife in the country has also been severely hit, with more than 2,000 koalas estimated to have died in New South Wales, with one-third of their habitat getting burned.
- The fires have also caused a drop in the bird, rodent and insect These creatures are the building blocks of the ecosystem and the fall in their population is bound to have long-term impacts.
- The wine industry in Adelaide Hills has also suffered serious destruction.
- The smoke from the wildfires has also drifted to New Zealand where it has turned the daytime sky orange across the South Island.
Criticism of Australia’s climate policy
In Australia’s bushfires lie warnings about the complex ways in which climate variables interact.
- One-third of global coal exports come from Australia, accounting for 7% of global carbon emissions.
- The country is the largest exporter of coal and liquefied natural gas in the world, and the energy sector is an important employer here.
- The current conservative government, which returned to power, has defended the country’s coal industry despite criticism from environmentalists.
- Australia has also invited scorn for counting carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol instead of making new reductions to meet its emissions targets.
Mains Question
The UN’s Emissions Gap Report comes as a sharp warning to countries, and Amazon forest fire, Australia’s bushfires have raise criticism of climate policy, and due this complex climate impact is seen around the world. Critically evaluate.
Approach
Question Demand: Question demands to write about the quality of natural forest decreasing in various part of the country. What are the steps needed to improve the tree-cover and conservation of the environment. Mention about initiatives taken by the government that has helped to improve the forest cover in the country.
Introduction: Mention the recent climate change impact through-out the world.
Body:
- Explain the importance of forest for conservation as well as for the economy.
- Issues in improving the forest cover in the country.
- Various mandates of the international organization and countries in meeting the target to keep the rise in global temperature over pre-industrial times well below 2°C, and ideally at 1.5°C.
Conclusion: Suggest the steps that need to be adopted in the conservation and maintenance of forest and green cover.