New Delhi [India], August 18 : Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday informed the Lok Sabha about the Centre allocating Rs 308.44 crore from the budget for the year 2024-25 to promote various languages under the Grants for Promotion of Indian Languages (GPIL) scheme.
The highest budget allocation to promote languages under GPIL was Rs 420.60 crore and Rs 459.70 crore for the years 2018-19 and 2019-20, respectively.
When asked about whether Sanskrit received higher funds compared to other languages, Pradhan said that allocation of funds was not on a language basis. Instead, they are provided according to the requirements and utilisation.
"Under the Grants for Promotion of Indian Language (GPIL), Government of India provides grants to Kendriya Hindi Sansthan (KHS), Maharishi Sandipani Rashtriya Ved Vidya Pratishthan (MSRVVP), Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT), National Council for Promotion of Sindhi Language (NCPSL) and National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) for the promotion of Hindi, Veda, Classical Tamil, Sindhi and Urdu respectively," the Union Education Minister said in a written reply while responding to queries raised by AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi in the lower house.
Pradhan further expanded on the government's policy regarding the promotion of all Indian languages under the National Education Policy of 2020, which advocates for multilingualism. However, the government is clear about the medium of instruction being in the respective mother tongues or regional languages for classes up to the eighth.
"The policy of the government is to promote all Indian languages. The National Education Policy, 2020, lays a lot of stress on promoting multilingualism and making efforts to keep Indian languages vibrant. The government of India in the NEP has provided that wherever possible, the medium of instruction upto at least class 5 and preferably upto class 8 will be in the home language/mother tongue/local language/regional language," the reply read.
Pradhan apprised the Lok Sabha about the Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme, which has been announced in the Union budget 2025-26, to provide books in the Indian language for school and higher education in digital format.
"The policy emphasis that teaching should be in their home language/local language and learning of Indian languages should be integrated with school and higher education, so that students have the option of studying in any Indian language. Further, in the Union Budget 2025-26, Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme has been announced to provide books in the Indian language for school and higher education in digital format," it added.
The Union Education Minister further stated that the government has provided funds to central universities for teaching and research in Sanskrit, leading to the award of a degree, diploma or certificate to the students.
"The government of India is promoting the Sanskrit language through three central universities, viz, Central Sanskrit University, New Delhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Sanskrit University, New Delhi and National Sanskrit University in Tirupati. Funds are provided to these universities for teaching and research in the Sanskrit language, leading to the award of a degree, diploma or certificate to the students," Pradhan said.