Centres of Excellence Planned in Five Classical Languages

Gist The Ministry of Education has approved the establishment of five Centres of Excellence CoEs dedicated to the study of Assamese , Bengali , Marathi , Pali , and Prakrit . These centres will provide a formal institutional framework for advanced academic research, digitisation, and preservation of linguistic heritage. For a civil services aspirant, this development highlights the government's operational strategy for promoting recently recognised classical languages by integrating their academic study directly into the regional higher education ecosystem. Background The initiative is spearheaded by the Ministry of Education to institutionalise the study and preservation of classical languages in India. The official classical language framework currently grants this status to a total of 11 languages . While achieving "classical" status brings recognition, the practical challenge lies in scholarly preservation; these new centres bridge that gap by providing dedicated academic platforms and funding mechanisms that were previously absent for these specific languages. Key Pointers Institutional integration: By embedding these centres within established regional universities rather than creating standalone bureaucratic bodies, the government is directly strengthening the local higher education and research…