Sitharaman: TN even now discourages Sanskrit

Bengaluru: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday raked up a major controversy by saying that Sanskrit was discouraged in Tamil Nadu during her school and college days, and thought it was discouraged even today.
“I will begin with my anecdotage, meaning my lived-in experience. My early schooling and going till college, learning Sanskrit was not easy at all because of the political environment in which we lived. And it’s not as if I lived in a foreign country. I lived in Tamil Nadu. Sanskrit was discouraged and I think even today it is discouraged,” she said at a function organized by Karnataka Sanskrit University.
In spite of that, Sitharaman said: “My parents insisted and I found a good teacher and privately learnt Sanskrit somewhat, but not like you. Learning Sanskrit or learning Hindi was not encouraged at all (in Tamil Nadu), but I am glad in Karnataka the situation is not that.”
Lauding the central government for promoting Sanskrit, Sitharaman said financial assistance is being given to other Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya and research centres.
Merits scholarships are provided for students of Sanskrit Pathshala of college level, she said. Financial help is also being provided to non-governmental agencies and higher educational institutions of Sanskrit for various research projects and programs.
“Very importantly, retired eminent Sanskrit scholars are engaged under the Shastra Chudamani scheme for teaching,” she said.
Sanskrit is also taught through non-formal Sanskrit education, Sitharaman said. By setting up non-formal Sanksirt learning centres at reputed Indian Institute of Technology, Ayurveda institutions, modern colleges and universities, where multi-tasked approaches can be executed, she added.
Then there are presidential awards given for Sanskrit language and it is awarded annually to 16 16 senior and five young scholars respectively, Sitharaman said. Then there is financial assistance being provided for publications and reprinting of rare Sanskrit texts, she said.
There is also development of Sanskrit dictionary school students. “There is also Sanskrit e-content which is being developed for online professional development programs for at secondary stage,” Sitharaman said.
There is also an interesting 21-day refresher course for Sanskrit teachers at Andaman and Nicobar Island at the upper primary stages. “Because that island has shown a lot of interest in learning Sanskrit. Teachers there are getting a 21 days course for training them,” she said.
There is also a Sanskrit workbook that is being prepared “Abhayasvan Bhava” for secondary stage and e-contents are ready for teachers and students, Sitharaman said.
There is on-going work on development of compendium on ancient Indian educational thoughts in Sanskrit. “I would appeal to Professor Devanathan and others to please see if there is anything for you to contribute, if you are able to give input it will be a great use,” she said.
(UNI)