In what constitutes a massive push to promote the Sanskrit language, an official has stated that the Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh will now issue press releases in Sanskrit along with English, Hindi and Urdu. As per the senior officials of the Information Department, important speeches of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will also be released in the ancient language. The Department has decided to take help from the Lucknow-based Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan for translating CM Yogi’s speeches into Sanskrit. In what can be described as a historic moment, Republic has reported that the state government’s Information Department released the first press note in Sanskrit on June 17.
The official stated, “This is the first time that such a step is being taken. The speech of chief minister (Yogi Adityanath) delivered at a recent NITI Aayog meeting in New Delhi was released in Sanskrit and was well received. Now we plan to expand it further.” Earlier, during a function on Monday, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath had stated, “Sanskrit is in the DNA of India, it is now limited to the work of priests.” Currently, there are 25 periodicals in Uttar Pradesh which are printed in Sanskrit. However, none of them is a daily.
This first of its kind step taken by the Yogi government deserves to be applauded. It is one of the oldest Indian languages and is an inseparable part of India’s cultural legacy and must be promoted by the government at all possible levels. However, the present situation leaves much to be done. That the Modi government and the BJP have shown serious commitment towards reviving the ancient language is a welcome development.
Before the polls, the BJP had proposed to provide 100 fellowships to researchers and scholars across India to promote the language. “With a focused effort on promotion of Sanskrit, we will ensure that the teaching of Sanskrit is expanded and popularized at the school level. We will also provide 100 Panini fellowships to researchers and scholars across India to promote research in Sanskrit.”
It must also be noted that in 2016, the Modi government had also unveiled an ambitious 10-year plan to revive the beautiful ancient language. With this ambitious plan, the government aims to expand the presence of the language and take it to IITs, NITs, IISERs and other science, commerce colleges across India. The language which is traditionally taught as an optional subject in schools will become far more popular with the youth when it is also taught at the undergraduate level. Probably, for the first time, a government at the centre has worked out a proper framework for restoring the ancient language in all its glory.
