Mumbai: Mumbai University is set to establish a Centre for the Conservation and Promotion of Indian Languages to preserve and promote the linguistic diversity of India. The centre will focus on 22 scheduled languages listed in the Constitution, including Marathi, Hindi, Sanskrit, Gujarati, Kannada, Sindhi and Urdu. The centre will also promote non scheduled languages such as , Pali, Prakrit, and Avesta Pahlavi.
The initiative aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) Indian Language Conservation Committee. A resolution for its establishment was passed during the recently concluded Academic Council meeting. The centre will play a key role in promoting Indian languages in higher education, according to a statement released by the university on Monday.
Mumbai University will also act as the nodal university for the Sindhi language, encouraging academic writing and translation efforts in higher education. Special programs and research projects will be introduced to connect students, teachers, and the wider community with Indian languages, emphasizing their cultural and educational significance.
The centre will also foster research in various languages spoken in India. “Many Indian languages have a rich literary tradition and the status of classical languages. The centre will be translating quality literary works in one language to another, which will help increase the wealth of knowledge in regional languages, create literature in various languages, as well as increase study material through translation and academic writing in various Indian languages,” said the university’s vice-chancellor (VC), professor Ravindra Kulkarni.
“The centre will be creating an ecosystem for original book writing,” professor Kulkarni said. In particular, ancillary activities such as translating quality literary works in classical Marathi language into other languages, translating the best literature in other languages into Marathi language, as well as enhancing dialects through computer support will be implemented through this centre, he added.
“Academic writing and translation will be encouraged through this centre and at the same time, emphasis will be placed on translating academic literature from other languages into regional languages and making it available to students,” he said. Professor Kulkarni also said that through this centre, special programs and research projects will be implemented to preserve and promote various Indian languages, connecting students, teachers, non-teaching officers and staff, and the wider society with the language.
