New Delhi, Aug 18 : The Centre allocated a sum of Rs 308.44 crore for promotion of Indian languages during 2024-25, the Parliament was informed on Monday.

Replying to a question by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi in the Lok Sabha, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan provided details of the budget allocation over the last 10 years under the Grants for Promotion of Indian Language (GPIL).

The statement shows that the allocation, which was Rs 288.88 crore in 2015-16, was enhanced subsequently. The highest allocation was Rs 459.70 crore in 2019-20. Thereafter, it came down. Only Rs 197.50 crore was allocated during 2021-22.

The minister also clarified that allocation of funds is not done on a language basis, rather they are provided as per the requirement and utilisation.

Under GPIL, the Centre provides grants to the Kendriya Hindi Sansthan (KHS), the Maharishi Sandipani Rashtriya Ved Vidya Pratishthan (MSRVVP), the Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT), the National Council for Promotion of Sindhi Language (NCPSL), and the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) for the promotion of Hindi, Veda, Classical Tamil, Sindhi and Urdu, respectively.

Pradhan also stated the Centre is promoting Sanskrit through three Central Universities - the Central Sanskrit University, New Delhi, the Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri National Sanskrit University, New Delhi, and the National Sanskrit University, Tirupati. Funds are provided to these universities for teaching and research in the Sanskrit language, leading to the award of a degree, diploma, or certificate to the students.

The minister also said in his reply that the policy of the government is to promote all Indian languages. The National Education Policy, 2020, lays a lot of stress on promoting multilingualism and making efforts to keep Indian languages vibrant.

The government in the National Education Policy has provided that wherever possible, the medium of instruction up to at least Class 5 and preferably up to Class 8 will be in the home language/mother tongue/local language/regional language.

The policy emphasises that teaching should be in their home language/local language and learning of Indian languages should be integrated with school and higher education, so that students have the option of studying in any Indian language, he said.

In the Union Budget 2025-26, the Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme has been announced to provide books in Indian languages for school and higher education in digital format, the minister added.

/IANS