Context
- As per the Indian Constitution, Some states which are having special centres set up for the propagation of the classical languages that are Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia are demanding for their administrative independence recently.
- This demand is intended to facilitate these centres perform their tasks and to popularise the diverse linguistic culture of India.
Key Points
- The proposed interdisciplinary research programme will have operationalization of four Centres at CIIL, Mysuru, viz. , Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Telugu, Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Kannada, Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Malayalam and Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Odia.
- Tamil, which was declared as a classical language in the year 2004 is located in this university and is an autonomous centre.
- The PDs of these centres called for autonomy at a meeting which was held on 18/03/2023 to assert their efficiency and advocacy of the spoken languages.
- These centres submitted their project reports in June 2023 and since then no directive was provided by the Union Education Ministry.
Challenges Faced
- The centres have various functional challenges which they receive from their association with CIIL.
- Among the problems inherited from CIIL, financial sanctions are needed for organisation of events and activities, which stalls their functioning.
- This process of reimbursement of the expenses incurred in the centres is complicated and hence limits the ability of the centres to organise programmes.
- Research scholar and administrative staff positions are not filled due to irregular funds and add to the vulnerability of the centres for their proper functioning.
Centre-wise Issues
- Even the Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Telugu in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, has been functioning with only 12 employees where the government has sanctioned 36 employees.
- In Bhubaneswar, there is the Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Odia which currently has only 8 employees as opposed to 30 persons on demand for senior and associate Fellows alongside 10 administrative employees.
- The Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Malayalam the government has established in Tirur, Kerala has only 2 staff members; nearly all the posts are still vacant.
Need for Autonomy
- That is why it is important to provide those centres with certain levels of independence so they could work efficiently and popularise their particular languages.
- With autonomy, Project Directors shall be financially attractive hence be able to utilise the financial resources without seeking CIIL’s approval.
- It will also help the centres to recruit manpower to fill the shortage they may be experiencing in their premises.
Conclusion
- The decision to decentralise the control of the classical language centres will go a long way in unveiling the Indian’s diverse linguistic culture.
- It will be useful in running these centres so that the Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia languages can be treasured and passed to the future generations.
Source: The Hindu