Government approves five Centres of Excellence for Classical Languages

The Ministry of Education has approved the establishment of five Centres of Excellence (CoEs) dedicated to the study and preservation of five Classical languages — Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit.

The decision was announced by the Ministry on Saturday, with officials describing the establishment of the centres as an important step towards strengthening the institutional framework for research, academic work and preservation of India’s Classical Language heritage.

According to the Ministry, the five centres will provide dedicated institutional platforms for advanced research, scholarly work and academic engagement related to the respective languages. They will also undertake activities aimed at preserving and digitising important linguistic and cultural material.

The centres will additionally focus on making the heritage associated with Classical Languages more widely accessible and strengthening academic ecosystems in the regions where the languages have developed and flourished.

The Centre of Excellence for Classical Assamese will be established at Tezpur University in Assam. The centre will provide an institutional platform for research and academic activities relating to Assamese language and its classical heritage.

For Classical Bengali, the Centre of Excellence will be established at Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal. The institution will undertake research and preservation-related activities connected with Bengali’s classical linguistic and literary heritage.

The Centre of Excellence for Classical Marathi will be established at the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute in Pune, Maharashtra. The centre is expected to support scholarly research and preservation work relating to Marathi.

For Classical Pali, the government has selected the Central University of Odisha in Odisha. The centre will focus on research, preservation and wider academic engagement involving Pali.

The fifth Centre of Excellence, dedicated to Classical Prakrit, will be established at the Central University as stated in the Ministry's announcement.

The Ministry said the five centres will work across four broad areas. The first will be the creation of dedicated institutional platforms for advanced research, scholarly work and academic engagement. This is intended to provide researchers and scholars with structured opportunities to study the languages and their historical and cultural significance.

The second area will be preservation and digitisation. This will involve efforts to preserve linguistic resources and make relevant material available in digital formats, helping researchers and institutions access and study historical resources.

The third focus will be the wider dissemination of Classical Language heritage. Through academic activities and other forms of engagement, the centres are expected to contribute to greater awareness of the linguistic and cultural traditions associated with these languages.

The fourth area will be strengthening regional academic ecosystems. By placing the centres at universities and research institutions with connections to the respective languages, the initiative aims to build stronger regional capacity for research and scholarship.

The Ministry described the establishment of the five Centres of Excellence as a significant step towards strengthening the institutional ecosystem for the study, research and preservation of India’s Classical Languages.

The initiative brings together universities and specialised academic institutions across several states. The selected institutions will serve as centres for research and scholarly engagement while also contributing to preservation and digitisation efforts.

With the approval of these centres, Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit will receive dedicated institutional platforms for research and preservation. The initiative is expected to create opportunities for scholars, researchers and academic institutions to engage more systematically with the languages and their associated heritage.