Facing growing protests over the exclusion of Bhojpuri, Magahi and Angika from the Jharkhand Teacher Eligibility Test (JTET) rules, the Hemant Soren government on Friday constituted a high-level ministerial committee to examine the contentious language issue.
The committee, headed by Finance Minister Radha Krishna Kishore, has been tasked with studying language provisions prescribed for different districts and recommending whether tribal and regional languages should be included in or removed from the JTET rules.
According to a notification issued by the personnel, administrative reforms and official language department, the panel includes Labour Minister Sanjay Prasad Yadav, Rural Development Minister Deepika Pandey Singh, Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Yogendra Prasad, and Urban Development and Housing Minister Sudivya Kumar.
The school education and literacy department has been designated as the nodal department for coordinating meetings of the committee. The notification, issued under the signature of Deputy Secretary Braj Madhav, stated that the panel would submit its report to the state government at the earliest.
The controversy erupted after Bhojpuri, Magahi and Angika were excluded from the revised JTET rules, triggering protests in several districts, particularly in the Palamu region, where supporters of these languages accused the government of ignoring large linguistic communities.
The issue has since acquired political overtones, with opposition leaders and several social organisations alleging discrimination against speakers of certain regional languages while Urdu and Bangla continue to remain in the framework. The government, however, has maintained that the matter requires wider consultation and administrative review.
Welcoming the formation of the committee, the Jharkhand Maithili Bhasha Sangharsh Samiti said it would place its demands before the panel. The organisation’s state convener, Amarnath Jha, said all languages recognised as second official languages in Jharkhand should be included in the teacher eligibility examination to ensure equal opportunity for all linguistic groups.