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The Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India, has approved the establishment of five Centres of Excellence (CoEs) for the study of Classical Assamese, Classical Bengali, Classical Marathi, Classical Pali and Classical Prakrit. The centres aim to provide institutional support for advanced academic research, scholarly work and the wider dissemination of knowledge related to these classical languages.
Five Higher Education Institutions to Host the Centres of Excellence
The Centre of Excellence for Classical Assamese will be established at Tezpur University, Assam; Classical Bengali at Visva-Bharati University, West Bengal; Classical Marathi at Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Pune; Classical Pali at Central University of Odisha and Classical Prakrit at Central University of Gujarat.
These centres will provide higher education institutions with dedicated academic platforms for the study and research of classical languages. They are also expected to strengthen opportunities for students, researchers and scholars to work on related literature, knowledge traditions and historical sources.
Focus on Research and Scholarship for Students and Researchers
According to the Ministry of Education, the Centres of Excellence will promote advanced research, scholarship and academic engagement in the respective classical languages. Their focus will extend beyond language studies to the documentation and preservation of resources related to literature and knowledge traditions.
The centres will also support the digitisation of linguistic and literary resources. This is expected to help preserve important and ancient textual materials over the long term and make them accessible to students and researchers through digital platforms.
Regional Academic Ecosystems to be Strengthened Across Five States
The centres, located across Assam, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Odisha and Gujarat, will strengthen regional higher education and research ecosystems dedicated to classical languages. They could also create new opportunities for collaboration among universities, researchers and academic institutions in these states.
The Central Government had granted classical language status to Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali in October 2024. With this, the total number of classical languages in India increased to 11. According to the government, the preservation, documentation and digitisation of classical languages could also generate employment opportunities in areas such as archiving, translation, publishing and digital media, alongside academic research.
The establishment of the five new Centres of Excellence is being seen as an important step towards integrating India’s rich linguistic and literary heritage with higher education. The centres are expected to strengthen research and scholarship at the institutional level while helping take the knowledge and traditions associated with classical languages to a new generation.
