Now, MP to set up Sanskrit university in Ujjain

After becoming the only state to upload news in Sanskrit on its official website and to think about making the language compulsory from Class I...

After becoming the only state to upload news in Sanskrit on its official website and to think about making the language compulsory from Class I, the BJP-dominated Madhya Pradesh Assembly today passed a Bill setting up a Sanskrit University to restore the language its glory in higher education.

The Ujjain-based Maharshi Panini Sanskrit University will set the government back by Rs 40 crore. The varsity will conduct examination for all affiliated colleges and promote the language. The government hopes it will 8220;inculcate a sense of social commitment towards the language among students8221;.

The Governor will be the Chancellor, though he wouldn8217;t have the powers to appoint the Vice-Chancellor. The chief minister, in his capacity as the chairman of the General Council, will recommend the name of the V-C to the Governor. The other members of the council include the higher education minister, principal secretary higher education, the finance minister and the principal secretary finance and six scholars nominated from higher educational institutions.

Higher Education Minister Tukojirao Pawar said the university would teach 18 subjects including grammar, literature, astrology and mathematics.

Replying to the debate on the Bill, he said during his visit to the United Kingdom he was amazed by the response towards the computer-friendly language.

However, the debate in the Assembly largely focused on the proposed university8217;s headquarters. Several Opposition MLAs wanted Riwa to get the varsity as most government Sanskrit colleges and schools were located there.

While just a couple of MLAs opposed the proposed university, a few wanted more than one. BJP MLAs, however, couldn8217;t stop singing paeans of the language. Ranjana Baghel called it a 8220;Punya Ka Kam8221;, while Lavkesh Singh and Dilip Singh Parihar called it a 8220;historic step8221; and 8220;Ishwari Karya8221; respectively.

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Congress MLA Sajjan Singh Varma even suggested setting up a Urdu University to help the BJP wash away the 8220;communal stain8221; its actions normally invoke. One of the few dissenting notes came from BSP MLA I M P Verma who failed to understand the need for a university to promote the Devbhasha.

Sanskrit has of late seen a kind of resurgence in Madhya Pradesh, mostly on paper. The number of Sanskrit students has gone up to 60,000 from 12,000 two years ago after the BJP government appointed Dr Manmohan Upadhyay as vice-chairman of the Sanskrit Board. The former pracharak still manages activities of Sanskrit Bharati, an RSS organisation that promotes the language.

There has been a phenomenal growth in the number of private Sanskrit schools set up in the hope of getting government grants. Hundreds of vacancies exist in Sanskrit colleges and schools run by the government, many even lack the basic infrastructure.