| GS Paper I – Art and Culture, 8th Schedule |
Why in the news?
There have been calls for the Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Odia special centres for the advancement of classical languages to operate with greater autonomy.
Institutions of Classical Languages
A Center of Excellence for Studies for a designated classical language must be established by the Education Ministry upon the language’s designation as a classical language.
The Center for Classical Languages status:
The six classical languages of India are Odia (2014), Malayalam (2013), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Tamil (2004), and Sanskrit (2005).
Under the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru, the Centre for Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Odia operates.
The Centre for Tamil is independent and is named the Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT).
Three Central Universities are used to promote Sanskrit.
Causes of the Demand for Autonomy
1. Funding Crunch: The centres are experiencing financial difficulties, which make it difficult for them to plan events and activities because CIIL approval is required beforehand.
The centre’s project director must obtain approval from the CIIL director as they have no financial drawing power.
| The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) was founded in Mysore in 1969 and is a subordinate office of the Ministry of Education. The Institute uses a number of extensive programs to promote Indian languages. |
2. High vacancy: The lack of consistent funding leads to a large number of administrative and research scholar jobs being unfilled.
For instance, just 12 of the 36 authorized staff members at the Center of Excellence for Studies in Classical Telugu (Andhra Pradesh)
3. Inequitable funding: The Union government spent ₹643.84 crore on Sanskrit promotion between 2017–18 and 2019–20, but just ₹29 crore was allocated to the other five classical Indian languages.
Advantages of being a classical language :
- Two significant yearly worldwide awards in classical Indian languages for distinguished scholars.
- There is a Center of Excellence established for study in classical languages.
- A specific number of Professional Chairs in Classical Languages at Central Universities are requested to be established by the University Grants Commission.
Classical Languages
A language is considered classical if it holds a significant and ancient body of written literature as well as its own literature.
In the Constitution’s Eighth Schedule, every classical language is mentioned.
Eighth Schedule
The official languages of the Republic of India are listed in the Eighth Schedule to the Indian Constitution.
Articles 343 to 351 of Part XVII of the Indian Constitution address the official languages.
The Eighth Schedule recognizes the following twenty-two languages:
- The 22 languages currently included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution are Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili, and Dogri.
- Fourteen of these languages were first mentioned in the Constitution. Sindhi was subsequently added in 1967; Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali were introduced in 1992; and the 92nd Amendment Act of 2003 added Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santali.
Standards for Classifying a Language as Classical:
Rules set forth by the Ministry of Culture must be adhered to for a language to be designated as classical in India.
Ancient Origin: The early manuscripts and written history date back a significant 1,500–2,000 years.
Literary Heritage: Include a collection of antiquated books or texts that successive generations of speakers value as a treasured legacy.
Originality: The literary heritage ought to be unique, not adapted from a different speaking community.
Discontinuity from Modern Avatars: The mentioned literature and language must be clearly differentiated from its contemporary form, with a clear break between the classical language and any later incarnations or offshoots.
Advantages of the Special Status:
- The HRD ministry holds two significant yearly worldwide awards for academics of distinction in the designated languages. The Education Ministry offers certain privileges to support a language after it is designated as a classical language.
- A centre of excellence is established for the study of classical languages.
It is requested of the University Grants Commission to establish a specific number of Professional Chairs at Central Universities for the languages classified as classical. - Research projects that support these languages are also granted funding by the University Grant Commission (UGC).
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