Sanskrit is second official language in Uttarakhand
The Uttarakhand government gave Sanskrit the status of second official language of the state. This comes after Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said that he intended to promote Sanskrit in the state. Anupam Trivedi reports.
The Uttarakhand government on Tuesday gave Sanskrit the status of second official language of the state. This comes after Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said that he intended to promote Sanskrit in the state. In fact, Uttarakhand is the only state to have accorded Sanskrit this status.
“Under Article 345 of the Constitution, the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly has passed the proposal to make Hindi the official language and Sanskrit the second official language of Uttarakhand state,” Radhika Jha, Additional Secretary, Sanskrit Education, said on Tuesday.
She added that a committee under the Chairmanship of the Secretary of Sanskrit Academy Buddh Dev Sharma has been constituted and that it would submit its suggestions to the government on how to further promote the language.
It is learnt that a former RSS pracharak Ramesh Pokhriyal has, off late, underlined the need of linking Sanskrit with the job market. According to officials, a separate department for Sanskrit Education has also been established.
Meanwhile, the CM has instructed officials to ensure that students in all the schools take Sanskrit as a compulsory subject. “The government wants to increase the usage of Sanskrit at school and higher education levels in the state,” said the CM earlier in the day while reviewing the Sanskrit Education department’s work in capital on Tuesday.