Lucknow: Acting on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s directions, the Uttar Pradesh government has now begun sending out its press releases in Sanskrit, apart from English, Hindi and Urdu.
“As per the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ji, government press releases will now be issued in Sanskrit language as well,” tweeted the official handle of the chief minister’s office (CMO) Saturday evening.
मुख्यमंत्री श्री @myogiadityanath जी के निर्देशानुसार शासकीय प्रेस विज्ञप्तियां अब संस्कृत भाषा में भी निर्गत की जाएंगी।
मुख्यमंत्री जी द्वारा कोविड-19 के दृष्टिगत प्रतिदिन की जा रही समीक्षा बैठक की आज की संस्कृत भाषा में निर्गत प्रेस विज्ञप्ति.. pic.twitter.com/601r7dGLYV
— CM Office, GoUP (@CMOfficeUP) September 26, 2020
Along with the tweet, the CMO handle also shared a press release in Sanskrit, with details of the government’s daily review meeting on Covid-19.
According to a senior official in the information department, all major press notes and also the chief minister’s speeches will now be released in Sanskrit. Two senior officials in the department have been given the responsibility to monitor the initiatives.
“Earlier we sent press releases in Hindi, English & Urdu but now Sanskrit has also been added. There are many Urdu newspapers in Uttar Pradesh and so we send press notes in Urdu. When Mulayam Singh Yadav was the chief minister, he focussed on the promotion of the Urdu language,” the senior official mentioned above said.
“During Mayawati and Akhilesh regimes, the department would send press releases in all three languages (Hindi, English & Urdu),” he added. “Now because the CM wants the releases to be sent in Sanskrit, we are doing that as well.”
ThePrint sent text messages and made calls to Shishir Singh, the director of the information department, for an official response but did not receive any. This report will be updated if there is a response.
A decision in this regard was first taken in June 2019, and the information department had also issued a Sanskrit press release then. But the practice was not continued. The department has now tasked two senior officials with a dedicated focus on this. The officials will review all these press releases, officials said.
Yogi’s love for Sanskrit
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed his love for Sanskrit on a number of occasions. He has also called for its development.
Earlier this year, during the ‘Bharatiya Bhasha Mahotsav’, CM Yogi said a person studying Sanskrit can never die of hunger, because the sages of India had long ago associated this language with employment.
He also added that when a person who knows Sanskrit works as a priest, people also give him dakshina and touch their feet. “There can be no greater honour than this,” he said.
Apart from this, Yogi has also focussed on Sanskrit schools in UP. During an event in 2018, he said, “I ask Sanskrit schools that besides imparting traditional education, they should provide computers, English, Science and Mathematics education to face competition.”
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