Himanta urges non-native settlers in Assam to list Assamese as mother tongue in Census

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday, August 15, appealed to people from other parts of the country who have made Assam their home to list Assamese as their mother tongue during the ongoing Census exercise.

The appeal comes amid a decline in the proportion of Assam’s population identifying Assamese as their mother tongue in successive Census enumerations.

Addressing the Independence Day gathering after hoisting the National Flag here, Sarma said the 2026 Census would play an important role in shaping future policies and urged people to participate in the exercise.

“The year 2026 is an important one as Census process has started. On the basis of data collected, the future of the country will be planned. It is our duty and responsibility to participate and make it successful,” he said.

Sarma said people in the Barak Valley and members of tribal communities could exercise their discretion while identifying their mother tongue.

“In Barak Valley, people will use their own conscience while mentioning their mother tongue. Bodos, Rabhas, Tiwas, Misings, others will also mention their own languages. Assam wants development of all local languages. Our tribal languages are as invaluable as the Assamese language, and it is our responsibility to conserve them,” he said.

He, however, appealed to people who had migrated to Assam from other parts of the country but had subsequently adopted Assamese language and culture to identify Assamese as their mother tongue.

“But besides the tribals and Barak Valley population, the proud Assamese individuals who had at some point of time come from Rajasthan or some other place with a different language and culture, I request them to mention ‘Assamese’ as their mother tongue,” he said.

According to Census data, 59.53% of Assam’s population identified Assamese as their mother tongue in 1971. The proportion declined to 48.80% in 2001 and 48.38% in 2011.

Experts have attributed the decline to several factors, including migration from other parts of the country, alleged infiltration and a growing number of indigenous communities identifying their respective languages rather than Assamese as their mother tongue.

The proportion of Bengali speakers increased from 27.53% in 2001 to 28.91% in 2011, while the share of Hindi speakers rose from 5.89% to 6.73% during the same period.

The Census exercise in Assam began with the self-enumeration facility on August 2, which will remain available until August 16. House-listing and housing Census operations will be conducted from August 17 to September 15.

The exercise has been postponed in Sivasagar and Charaideo districts, which have been severely affected by floods this year.