On Saturday, the Ministry of Education announced the creation of five Centres of Excellence (CoEs) dedicated to the study of five Classical languages: Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali, and Prakrit.

The Ministry emphasized that the establishment of these Centres represents a pivotal advancement in enhancing the institutional framework aimed at the study, research, and preservation of India’s Classical Languages.

The CoEs will concentrate on four key areas: providing specialized platforms for advanced scholarly research and academic collaboration, preserving and digitizing classical texts, promoting the rich heritage of Classical Languages, and bolstering regional academic networks.

The Centre of Excellence for classical Assamese will be set up at Tezpur University in Assam; the Centre for classical Bengali will be located at Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal; the Centre for classical Marathi will be established at the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute in Pune, Maharashtra; the Centre for classical Pali will be at the Central University of Odisha; and the Centre for classical Prakrit will be situated at the Central University of Gujarat.

This initiative underscores the government’s commitment to safeguarding and advancing India’s extensive linguistic and literary heritage while enhancing institutions of higher learning as hubs for research and academic excellence, as further noted in the Ministry’s statement.