Nowgong Girls' College


CENTER FOR TIWA STUDIES

1. General Profile

Date of Establishment : 19th June, 2022
Name of the Coordinator : Dr. Amiya Patar
Name of the Teacher : Mrs. Miloti Maslai

Tiwa is an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the states of Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya in Northeastern India. They are also found in some areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland. They are recognized as a Scheduled tribe within the state of Assam. They were known as “Lalungs” in the Assamese Buranjis and in Colonial literature and in the constitution of India, though members of the group prefer to call themselves Tiwa. Some of their neighbours still call them Lalung. A striking peculiarity of the Tiwa is their division into two sub-groups, will Tiwa and Plans Tiwas, displaying contrasting cultural features.

The Tiwa language is now a dying language. The language is speken by the hill tribes as well as the Wazwali Tribes. The Tiwa tribes of the plains use Assamese as their mother tongue.

The Tiwa Sahitya Sabha opened hundreds of Tiwa language centres to teach the Tiwa language in order to free the language from its endangered state.

According to the new education policy, specific guidelines have been given to properly manage endangered languages. Therefore, the Nowgong Girls’ College decided to open a Tiwa language teaching centre in the college. The Tiwa Sahitya Sabha took the initiative in this regard.

2. Management Committee:

a. Dr. Balin Kumar Bhuyan (Centre in Charge), Principal, Nowgong Girls’ College.
b. Dr. Amiya Pator (Coordinator), Associate Professor & HoD, Assamese, Nowgong Girls’ College.
c. Ranjit Barua (Member), Coordinator, IQAC
d. Smarajit Ojah (Member), Assistant Professor, Geography, Nowgong Girls’ College.
e. Miloti Maslai (Member), Teaching Assistant, Center for Tiwa Studies, Nowgong Girls' College.

3. Objectives

The Tiwa studies center has been working with the following objectives:
• Re establishing the language in a state of crisis.
• Introduction of new Education policy guidelines.

4. Programmes Offered

• Diploma in Tiwa Language
• Certificate course in Tiwa Language
• Spoken Tiwa Language course

5. Contribution towards the Society

(i) A language is the backbone of a nation so the expansion of the language will help strengthen the foundation of the nation.
(ii) Secondly, the language of the non-Aryan groups settled in Assam has enriched the Assamese language. Therefore, the expansion of the Tiwa language will contribute significantly to the enrichment of the larger Assamese language.

6. Contact Details

For any query related to this center please contact to:
Dr. Amiya Pator
Coordinator, Center for Tiwa Studies
Nowgong Girls' College
Mobile: 9954561744

Miloti Maslai, Teaching Assistant, Center for Tiwa Studies
Nowgong Girls' College
Mobile: 7099447080