Himanta Biswa Sarma Urges Migrants in Assam to List Assamese as Mother Tongue in Census

Guwahati: Today, Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma appealed to people who have migrated from other parts of the country and made Assam their home to identify Assamese as their mother tongue in the ongoing 2026 Census.

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

He said people in the Barak Valley and members of tribal communities should identify their respective mother tongues according to their choice. Sarma stressed that Assam was committed to promoting and preserving all indigenous languages, describing tribal languages as equally valuable.

However, he appealed to people who had come to Assam from other states but had subsequently adopted Assamese language and culture to record Assamese as their mother tongue.

Census data shows that the proportion of Assam’s population identifying Assamese as their mother tongue fell from 59.53% in 1971 to 48.80% in 2001 and 48.38% in 2011.

Meanwhile, the share of Bengali speakers rose from 27.53% in 2001 to 28.91% in 2011, while Hindi speakers increased from 5.89% to 6.73%.

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