Empowering Tribals Through promotion of KUI language.( Tribal Language of common people).
Odisha is the homeland of the tribal’s. There are sixty two type of tribes are in Odisha among them the Kandha tribe is considered to be one of the major tribe. Their concentration is mainly found all over the blocks of the Rayagada regions of the state of Odisha in India. In this district we can find many types of Kandha people like Dangaria Kandha (Dangran ), Malua Kandha (Tekran), Desia Kandha (Panga Kui), Jharania Kandha, Jatapu Kandha etc. All these types of Kandha people named as per their dwelling place. They speak the Kui/Kuvi language which belongs to the Dravidian linguistic group.
1.Rayagada district is located between 1900’ and 19058’ north latitude and 8205’ and 8402’ east longitude in the southern part of Orissa. It is bounded by Gajapati district in the east, Koraput and Kalahandi districts in the west, Kalahandi and Phulabani districts in the north and Koraput and Srikakulam (Andhra Pradesh) districts in the south.
2. Rayagada is a tribal district of Odisha consisting of various tribal communities with
their sub tribes. The Kondhas and their sub-section constitute the major percentage
of tribal population in the district and the Sauras stand second. The most primitive
sub group of the Kondhas are the Dongoria Kondhas. Dongor means hill in Odia.
The Kondhas have a distinct language called “Kui” which has no written script. It is
written in the Odia script. With 941,988 native speakers, it figures at rank 29 in the
1991 Indian census. According to information available on UNESCO site, the Kui
language status situation is potentially vulnerable.
3.The Women’s College, Rayagada being the only women’s college in the district has
almost 75% students who belong to the tribal community and can speak Kui
language. In view of the vulnerability of the language, the institution has taken a few
steps as one of the best practices to preserve and propagate this language and
associated culture. The institution has tried to create awareness among the students
regarding the relevance of preserving their ethnicity and their language. For this we
have encouraged our students to translate their seminar papers into Kui language
well guided by Kui speaking teachers. We have conducted various competitions like
essay writing, story writing, etc in Kui language. To promote the language, the
HODS of each department have encouraged their respective students to write
poems, stories and essays in Kui language for displaying in the wall magazines of
their department. This has enabled the students to unlock their skills and capabilities,
and express themselves in their native language. The institution seeks furtherto help
the students understand the significance of their own culture, take pride in it, revive
their own language and represent their communities locally as well as
globally.
4. Kui (କୁଇ)(also Kandh, Khondi, Khond, Khondo, Kanda, Kodu (Kōdu), Kodulu, Kuinga (Kūinga), Kuy) is a South-Central Dravidian language spoken by the Kandhas, eastern Indian state of Odisha. It is mostly spoken in Odisha, and written in the Odia script. With 941,988 registered native speakers, it figures at rank 29 in the 1991 Indian census.The Kui language was also referred to as the Kuinga language during the historical period. It is clost lists the official languages of India.
5.Although there are hundreds of languages spoken across the country, the eighth schedule recognises a total of 22 languages as the official languages.
6. Languages in 8th Schedule:
The 22 languages now included in the eighth section of the Constitution are, Manipuri, Maithili, Kashmiri, Hindi, Kannada, Gujarati, Konkani, Malayalam, Assamese, Marathi, Nepali, Bengali, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Telugu, Tamil, Odia, Urdu, Bodo, Dogri, and Santhali.
Fourteen of these languages were originally listed in the Constitution. Sindhi was introduced in 1967, Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali in 1992, and Santali, Dogri, Maithili, and Bodo by the 92nd Amendment Act of 2003.
7.Rayagada is a tribal region. In Rayagada most tribals speak Kui Language. People understand this language very well. In Women’s College Rayagada 75% students belong to Kui Language. They also understand Odia, hindi and English. But they have very flexible conversation in Kui Language.
8.Hence promotion of native language is one of the objectives of New Education Policy. our college has decided “ PROMOTION OF KUI LANGUAGE” as priority and thrust area. Each and every department conducting seminars by elaborating the same presented Seminar paper in English which is translated into Kui language by a student belonging to tribal communities. and Kui Language. Student present their papers both in English and also in Odia.
9.In our college we have organized The Kui poem writing Competition. In which several students took part and won prizes also. We have some teachers who can understand the Kui language properly.
10.It is one of the unique distinctive to its priority and thrust in our college which can restore the language of the tribal people by focusing on the Kui Language. It makes the college a student friendly environment.