Manish Sisodia (Express)
Seeking to promote Sanskrit among Delhites, the AAP government on Wednesday announced that it would open 75 learning centres of the ancient language across the national capital. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said these centres would offer three-month certificate course in Sanskrit.
The government has constituted a committee to design the course syllabus within a month and the course will be of two-hour duration thrice a week. Sisodia, who is also the Education minister, said the aim is to ensure that people get well versed in the language, the usage of which has now been “restricted to worship”. He said Sanskrit is taught in schools, but the focus is more on its technical and grammatical aspects.
“The course will focus more on the practical knowledge of the language which is connected with day to day life. Almost all households worship and conduct rituals, but blindly follow what the priest conducts without understanding their relevance as all language evolve scientifically,” Sisodia told a press conference. Sisodia, who also heads the Arts and Culture department, said the Sanskrit academy under the department will be offering the course and it will charge a nominal fee from the residents of Delhi.
The government has already announced that it would promote Hindi and other regional languages by extending financial assistance for opening up of literary clubs in the city. The Kejriwal government has proposed to constitute ‘Sahitya Charcha Clubs’ across the city for promotion of literature.
