Union Government Approves Five New Centres for Classical Languages

New Centres

The Union government has approved the creation of five new Centres of Excellence dedicated to the study of five classical languages: Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali, and Prakrit. According to the Ministry of Education, these hubs will support advanced research, the digital preservation of literary heritage, and the wider sharing of traditional knowledge.

University Locations

The Centre of Excellence for Assamese will open at Tezpur University in Assam, while Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal will host the Bengali centre. The Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute in Pune will house the Marathi centre. Meanwhile, the Central University of Odisha and the Central University of Gujarat have been selected for Pali and Prakrit, respectively.

Reactions

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi welcomed the decision on social media, noting that the Pali centre at the Central University of Odisha will boost the preservation of a tongue tied to the nation's spiritual and intellectual roots. Officials state that the move brings the total number of recognized classical languages in the country to 11.

Context

India has a vast literary history written across multiple ancient tongues that form the foundation of many modern regional systems of speech and writing. Setting up dedicated academic hubs helps protect old texts from decay through digital archiving while giving scholars formal institutional support for deep study.