Education ministry approves five centres of excellence for classical languages

New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Education has approved the establishment of five Centres of Excellence (CoEs) to strengthen research, preservation, digitisation and dissemination of India’s classical linguistic and literary heritage.

The centres will focus on Classical Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit, providing dedicated institutional support for advanced academic research and the conservation of linguistic and literary resources.

The centres will be established at Tezpur University in Assam for Classical Assamese; Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal for Classical Bengali; Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute in Pune for Classical Marathi; Central University of Odisha for Classical Pali; and Central University of Gujarat for Classical Prakrit.

According to the Ministry of Education, the initiative aims to strengthen the institutional ecosystem for the study and preservation of classical languages through four key areas: advanced academic research, documentation and digitisation of literary resources, wider dissemination of linguistic and knowledge traditions, and the development of regional academic ecosystems.

The centres will provide platforms for scholarly work and academic engagement while supporting the long-term conservation of India’s textual heritage. They will also facilitate wider access to literary and knowledge traditions associated with the respective languages.

Spread across Assam, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Odisha and Gujarat, the centres are expected to strengthen regional higher education and research networks in classical language studies.

The initiative is part of the government’s efforts to preserve and promote India’s linguistic and literary heritage while developing higher educational institutions as centres of specialised research and scholarship.