New Delhi, July 31: In a significant move to usher peace in the North-East, Union Cabinet tonight approved the long-pending demand for inclusion of the Bodo language in the eighth Schedule of the Constitution. The decision taken by the Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, would "meet the long-cherished demand of the Bodo people of Assam", an official spokesman told reporters.

A bill to this effect would be brought in the on-going monsoon session of Parliament, he said.
There are 18 languages already in the Eighth Schedule and the Bodo language would become the 19th which would be granted official status after the bill is enacted.

The inclusion of the language in the Eighth Schedule was sought by all leading Bodo organisations, including the All Bodo Students Union, Bodo Sahitya Sabha, as also the militant outfit Bodo Liberation Tigers which has now laid down arms and is in talks with the government for creation of an autonomous Bodo Territorial Council in Assam.
Bureau Report