Media and Social Change: Literacy, Representation, the Quest for Social Equity
Articles

The Role of Community Media in Preserving Indigenous Languages and Traditions in Uttarakhand

PDF
  • Kishor Kumar Hira
Kishor Kumar Hira
Senior Graphic Instructor, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Amity University, kolkata.

Published 2025-12-24

Keywords

  • Language revitalization,
  • Kumauni,
  • Garhwali,
  • ‘Pahru’ magazine,
  • folk tales,
  • education policy,
  • digital preservation,
  • endangered languages,
  • Uttarakhand,
  • linguistic diversity
    • ...More
    Less

How to Cite

Kumar Hira, Kishor. “The Role of Community Media in Preserving Indigenous Languages and Traditions in Uttarakhand”. Swami Vivekananda University Press, Dec. 2025, pp. 141-53, https://swamivivekanandauniversitypress.com/index.php/svup/article/view/344.

Copyright (c) 2025 Swami Vivekananda University Press

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Abstract

This paper examines the urgent need to conserve and restore the endangered Himalayan languages of Kumauni and Garhwali, spoken largely in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Both languages, though having millions of native speakers, do not have constitutional recognition, are experiencing a decline in use among younger generations, and are rated as endangered by UNESCO. The study investigates the issues brought about by modernization, education language policies, and socio-political exclusion. It finds successful grass-root interventions such as the role of monthly Kumauni-language magazine ‘Pahru’, documentation and digitalization of folktales, and grass-root movement building linguistic pride. National education reforms, particularly the New Education Policy (NEP 2020), on mother-tongue integration in early education that also evaluates the effect. In a transdisciplinary framework of field research, policy analysis, and computerbased humanities, the paper presents pragmatic directions towards linguistic sustainability as well as the improvement of intergenerational cultural continuity in the Himalayan realm.

DOI - https://doi.org/10.65525/SVUP.9788199565494.2026.141-153

PDF