Just weeks ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Union Cabinet Thursday approved a decade-old proposal to accord classical language status to Marathi. The government also named Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali as classical languages. Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters, "The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved to confer the status of classical language to Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali languages. The classical languages serve as a custodian of India’s heritage, embodying the essence of a community’s historical and cultural milestone." Calling Marathi as India’s pride, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday, "This honour acknowledges the rich cultural contribution of Marathi in our nation’s history. Marathi has always been a cornerstone of Indian heritage. I am sure with the status of a classical language, many more people will be motivated to learn it." Officials say even as the primary states involved are Maharashtra (Marathi), Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh (Pali and Prakrit), West Bengal (Bengali), and Assam (Assamese), the broader cultural and academic impact will extend nationally and internationally. In October 2004, the Centre decided to create a new category of languages as "classical languages”, with Tamil becoming the first language to be declared one. The criteria for inclusion included the high antiquity of its early texts/ recorded history over a thousand years; and the originality of the literary. In November 2004, a Linguistic Experts Committee (LEC) was constituted by the Ministry of Culture under the Sahitya Akademi to examine the eligibility of the languages proposed to be accorded classical language status. The following year, Sanskrit was declared a classical language. Gradually, Telugu and Kannada in 2008, and Malayalam and Odia in 2013 and 2014 joined the list. Officials said a proposal was received from the Maharashtra government in 2013 requesting classical language status for Marathi, which was forwarded to the LEC. But, during the inter-ministerial consultations on the draft note for cabinet in 2017 for conferring classical status to the Marathi language, the Ministry of Home Affairs advised to revise the criteria and make it stricter. In the meantime, proposals from Bihar, Assam and West Bengal were also received advocating the inclusion of Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali. Accordingly, the five languages were accorded classical language status on Thursday. Varsities for promotion The Ministry of Education takes steps to promote classical languages. Three central universities were established in 2020 through an Act of Parliament for promotion of Sanskrit language. The Central Institute of Classical Tamil was set up to facilitate the translation of ancient Tamil texts, and offer courses in Tamil. To enhance the study and preservation of classical languages, the Centres for Excellence for studies in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, and Odia were also set up.
