Adarsh Sanskrit Village Program: This latest initiative to encourage Sanskrit is part of several similar efforts already in effect – offering financial incentives to girls and SC/ST students who opt for Sanskrit classes in Uttarakhand schools.
On Tuesday (April 15), Uttarakhand Cabinet approved Adarsh Sanskrit Village Programme which will teach Sanskrit in one village from each district in Uttarakhand. This move seeks to promote Sanskrit as the second official language, following other similar schemes like providing financial incentives for girls and SC/ST students who choose Sanskrit classes at schools.
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Details regarding how the scheme will be implemented will also be presented here
Under this pilot plan, one village from each district was chosen and depending on how it responds, this scheme may then be introduced on an area-by-area basis.
Deepak Kumar, Secretary for Sanskrit in Uttarakand said the 13 districts were selected through a committee comprised of District Magistrate, Education Officer and Sanskrit officer representatives for each region. A survey was also conducted in these 13 districts to gather feedback regarding whether people responded positively or negatively towards this scheme.
Thirteen villages include Bhogpur in Dehradun, Mukhem in Tehri, Kotgaon in Uttarkashi, Baiji in Rudraprayag, Dimmar in Chamoli, Goda in Pauri Urg Pithoragarh Pandeykota Almora Seri Bageshwar Khark Karki Champawat Nurpur Haridwar Pandeygaon Nainital and Nagla Terai Udham Singh Nagar are included among them.
Dr Dham Singh Rawat, Minister for Sanskrit Education stated, “To preserve and advance this ancient language for future generations to learn it more easily, the government has designated one model Sanskrit village per district for active promotion of Sanskrit.” Such villages will connect younger Indians with Indian philosophy as well as knowledge traditions through this ancient tongue.
Thirteen instructors will be hired at Rs 20,000 monthly under a scheme being funded by Central Sanskrit University of Delhi and set to go live by May. “We have received around 100 applications so we will select those with strong proficiency,” Kumar noted.
Following this event, 13 instructors will attend a brief training at the Sanskrit Academy in Haridwar to orient them with texts they will need in teaching daily greetings and conversation topics to the villagers; thereafter we will introduce the significance of Sanskrit for civilization and heritage.” Kumar announced that Sanskrit may also be taught in villages where Muslims, Dalits or tribal populations opt in so that they may assimilate into mainstream society more seamlessly.
Government will collaborate with industry associations in order to provide employment opportunities with these skillsets. A committee, chaired by gram pradhans will oversee operations.
Syllabus and texts used will be provided
Under this plan, a syllabus has been established, with each learner receiving a textbook containing appropriate but simplified material such as shlokas from epic stories like Mahabharata’s Gita, Ramayana and Panchatantra as well as Durga Saptashati-another Hindu religious text-plus Durga Saptashati for review purposes and examinations between 13 villages to encourage learning. “We will also educate about smoking and tobacco use”, Kumar added.
Secretary Kumar noted the necessity of learning Sanskrit is tied to conserving and protecting culture of India. Our Dharma Shastras and Vedas are written in Sanskrit; those fluent in its use will gain one meaning out of reading translations while reading Sanskrit gives a different comprehension, which must be preserved, according to Kumar. “To break free of stereotypes that attach languages solely to caste or community affiliation, we intend on adding Sanskrit into madrasas as an optional subject matter; once signed, we shall start teaching it,” concluded Kumar.
The government is employing both Hindi and Sanskrit in office plaques at both the Secretariat and Assembly buildings, airport authorities, railways and state bus transport providers – where public usage occurs – with Sanskrit signboards; approximately 350 words will be added for airport signage with Dehradun airport making an official request of Rs 50 lakh being approved from central government for these signboards.
“We will visit Mattur in Karnataka’s Shimoga district – the sole Sanskrit village in India,” stated Secretary KR Purohit. The State Council for Science and Technology in Uttarakhand has also been using Sanskrit through projects, using Vedic mathematics and Artificial Intelligence techniques in projects with IIT Roorkee to incorporate Vedic mathematics in projects using Sanskrit texts digitally as input into an expansive language model with 1 billion characters of text data for promotion purposes.
