Tatarstan's State Council reviews its Tatar identity programme: 64 measures and over 111 million rubles

The Tatarstan State Council's committee on education, culture, science and national affairs met on 11 November to review the state programme "Preserving the National Identity of the Tatar People". The programme has 64 measures and funding of more than 111 million rubles. The "Tatar Dictation" campaign drew over a million participants from 78 Russian regions and 28 countries.

Deputy Myaksum Salakhov asked how one can measure whether the programme works. Lenar Khakimzyanov, deputy minister of culture, said success is gauged by attendance at events, which rises every year. Rail Zaydulla, chairman of the Union of Writers of Tatarstan, disagreed: in his view identity shows in the number of native speakers, functioning national schools and national literature.

Irina Terentyeva, deputy committee chair, named language loss as the main challenge and said the focus should shift from events to media content and services that create a real need for the language. Deputy Rima Mukhamedshina called for digital projects, films and online material for children, and deputy Alsu Nabieva for Tatar culture centres in schools, colleges and universities.

Danis Shakirov, head of the World Congress of Tatars' Executive Committee, proposed adding the "Alifba" alphabet to Russia's register of intangible cultural heritage. State Council deputy chair Marat Akhmetov urged deputies to start with themselves. Russia's latest census showed a marked drop in Tatar speakers over an 11-year period.