An akademi to promote Santhali language and culture on the lines of the West Bengal Bangla Akademi will be set up, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said on Saturday on the occasion of World Mother Tongue day.

“Recently Santhali was included in the eighth schedule of the constitution as an official language of India. In 50 years after independence, the governments at the Centre were reluctant to give the Santhali language its due recognition. Many other languages spoken only by a handful of people were recognised but Santhali was always considered a dialect of Hindi,” he said.

There are more than 50 lakh Santhali-speaking people in six states of the eastern region. “Bengalis at one time claimed that Oriya and Assamese were dialects of Bangla. We must love our mother tongue but in the process should not try to force it on others,” Bhattacharjee said.

Ramakrishna anniversary: The 169th birth anniversary of Sri Ramakrishna will be celebrated at Sri Sarada Math, Dakshineswar, with a special puja on Sunday. Pravrajika Vishuddhaprana will discuss the life and teachings of Shri Ramakrishna. A ladies’ meeting will be held from 4.30 to 5.30 p.m.