President Droupadi Murmu stated today that efforts should be made to preserve and promote the Ol Chiki script of the Santhali language. Addressing the centenary celebrations of the Ol Chiki script in New Delhi, President Murmu said that Ol Chiki is a powerful introduction to the Santhali community. She also stated that it serves as a means of establishing unity within the Santhali community. The President added that the Ol Chiki script is not only expanding within the country but also worldwide. She praised the central government's decision to conduct the UPSC exam in the Ol Chiki script. President Murmu also mentioned that, like other Indian languages, the Sahitya Akademi is also recognizing Santhali writers. She said that this recognition is very important for the Santhali language.
The government also released a commemorative coin and commemorative postage stamp to mark the 100th anniversary of the Ol Chiki script. The Ol Chiki script was developed in 1925 by Pandit Raghunath Murmu specifically for the Santhali language, which was later included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India in 2003. The script consists of 30 letters designed to accurately represent Santhali phonetics. Ol Chiki is the official script of the Santhali language, one of India's prominent tribal languages, which is widely spoken across Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, and Bihar.
