Edu ministry urges departments to use funds for promotion of Indian languages
The education ministry urged departments and autonomous bodies to explore the use of their capacity building funds for language promotion, which could facilitate the creation of literature and documents in various subjects
The Union ministry of education (MoE) has urged all ministries, departments, and autonomous bodies under the central government to consider using their capacity building funds for the promotion of Indian languages.
In a letter to secretaries, K Sanjay Murthy, secretary of the ministry of education, said “multilingualism can truly empower people if it is promoted in every sphere of life, and not in education alone,” and urged ministries and autonomous bodies to explore the use of their capacity building funds for language promotion, which could facilitate the creation of literature and documents in various subjects.
Murthy asked the ministries to “personally look into this aspect” and implement initiatives that utilise these funds to establish a robust ecosystem for Indian languages.
The letter said the National Education Policy 2020 has recommended promotion of Indian languages at every level of teaching-learning and referenced the ASMITA initiative, launched in collaboration with the University Grants Commission (UGC), which aims to produce study materials in 22 Indian languages. It also mentioned a partnership with the National Education Technology Forum focused on “wide ranging, real time translation and interpretation work” to enhance multilingualism in education.
In July, the ministry, in conjunction with the UGC, launched the ASMITA initiative to produce study material in 22 scheduled languages through original writing and translations. The UGC, alongside the Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti, is working to create 22,000 books across disciplines in higher education.