Language row: Bhojpuri, Magahi rolled back from Bokaro, Dhanbad districts amid stir

Jharkhand: Days after massive protest emerged in parts of Jharkhand against the inclusion of Bhojpuri and Magahi in the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) examinations in district level appointments of Bokaro and Dhanbad district, the state government Friday night issued a notification rolling back its previous notification. The current notification removed Bhojpuri and Magahi from regional languages list from Bokaro and Dhanbad districts.

Also Read :- Pakistani-origin Spanish sisters were severely tortured and shot dead for honour; 6 arrested

A fresh notification, signed by the principal secretary, was issued late on Friday night in this regard. In it, the government has mentioned only ‘Nagpuri, Urdu, Khortha, Kurmali and Bangla’ as regional languages for the two districts.

Jharkhand government rolled back Bhojpuri and Magahi as regional languages from Bokaro and Dhanbad districts; issues new notification of district-wise regional languages pic.twitter.com/SvkcJcSnLt

— ANI (@ANI) February 19, 2022

Also Read :- Air Force helicopter deployed to evacuate stranded civilians in Assam after heavy floods

The protests that had reportedly spread over Ranchi and Giridih began after the Hemant Soren government issued a notification regarding selection of matric and intermediate candidates through examinations in December last year. The notification had included Bhojpuri and Magahi as regional languages in Dhanbad and Bokaro districts.

According to the protesters, the two districts have very few people speaking in the two languages and inclusion of the same for examinations amounted to “infringement on the rights” of locals, in this case Adivasis (tribals) and Moolvasis (non-tribal locals).