How has Odia benefitted after classical languages tag? Minister responds in LS

The Ministry of Education, through the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) in Mysuru, has been committed to the promotion and development of all Indian languages, including Classical Languages.

In this regard, various institutions and Centres of Excellence have been established to support research, documentation, and scholarly activities related to these languages:

• Odia: The Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Odia is located in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

• Tamil: Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT), Chennai, was established in 2008. This institute is devoted to the promotion and development of Classical Tamil.

• Sanskrit: The Government of India supports Sanskrit education through three Central Universities: Central Sanskrit University (New Delhi), Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri National Sanskrit University (New Delhi), and National Sanskrit University (Tirupati). These universities were conferred the status of Central University in 2020 for better Sanskrit education and research.

• Telugu: The Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Telugu is at Nellore, Andhra Pradesh.

• Kannada: The Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Kannada is based in Mysuru, Karnataka.

• Malayalam: The Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Malayalam is located at Tirur, Malappuram, Kerala.

Recently, the Government has also notified five additional languages-Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali-as Classical Languages through a Gazette Notification dated October 4, 2024.

Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, gave this information in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

Also Read: Odia pictorial alphabet book ‘Madhu Barnabodha’ revamped to honour poet Madhusudan Rao

PIB