Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2020 stands passed in Parliament

Sanskrit is a gift of India for entire humanity: Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’

The Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2020 has been passed by the Parliament after it was passed by Rajya Sabha today. The Lok Sabha had already passed the Bill on 12th December 2019. Speaking after the passing of the Bill, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ thanked the Members of the House for their support in passing the Bill .This bill will convert (i) Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi, (ii) Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, New Delhi, and (iii) Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, Tirupati into Central Sanskrit Universities.

Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said that after passing of the bill, these 3 universities will have more opportunities to spread the knowledge of Sanskrit language not only in India but also across the world in a better way. The Minister said that Sanskrit is a scientific language and a language of wisdom. He also said that the world is looking towards Sanskrit language therefore it is being taught not only in Indian colleges and universities but also in top universities of the world. He said that Sanskrit is a gift of India for entire humanity and it will enhance the pride of India at global level. The Minister also quoted thoughts of some great personalities like great scientist C.V. Raman, former president of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and German-born philologist Max Muller on Sanskrit.

The HRD Minister spoke at great length about the importance and uniqueness of Sanskrit and its literature. He pointed out that Sanskrit is a language having special characteristics and unique in so many areas like Grammar, meaning, pronunciation, accuracy etc. He further pointed out that Devanagari script is otherwise of Sanskrit only and informed that a lot of words in many Indian languages are derived from Sanskrit. Sanskrit language is not only a language but an identity of the great cultural diversity of this country and hence it is known as an unique language. Due to these factors, it has become imperative to promote the study and research in Sanskrit language. Hence, the government has proposed to convert these three Deemed to be Universities into Central Sanskrit Universities.

This is one of the landmark Bills passed by the Parliament which has fulfilled the aspirations and long standing wish of many sanskrit lovers, scholars and Sanskrit speaking people in the country. The Central University status awarded to these 3 Universities will enhance the status of these Universities and will give boost to Post Graduate, Doctoral and Post-doctoral education and Research in the field of Sanskrit and Shastraic education. This will pave way for many people from abroad to learn Sanskrit and Shastraic lore from these prestigious Central Sanskrit Universities in our country.