Parliament Question: Preservation of heritage and classical languages

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 2677# ANSWERED ON- 16/03/2026 PRESERVATION OF HERITAGE AND CLASSICAL LANGUAGES 2677 # SHRI AMAR PAL MAURYA: SHRI ASHOKRAO SHANKARRAO CHAVAN: Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:- (a) criteria used for selection of universities for the establishment of Centres of Excellence (CoE) dedicated to the preservation of classical languages and ancient manuscripts; (b) manner in which CoE contribute to skill development of minority youth in fields like curation, translation, and digital archiving; (c) details of infrastructure projects approved under Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) that focus exclusively on the preservation of minority cultural heritage sites; and (d) details of the collaboration between the Central Government and premier academic institutions for conducting research on the impact of linguistic preservation programs? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU) (a) & (b): Under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK), the coverage of the scheme has been expanded beyond Minority Concentration Areas to include Central Government Organisations (CGOs) and Universities for creation of community-oriented infrastructure aimed at strengthening educational and research facilities for minority communities. Under this expanded coverage, support has been extended to 14 Central Government Organisations and 6 Universities. An amount of Rs. 1246.45 crore has been sanctioned, out of which Rs. 707.28 crore has been released for creation of infrastructure facilities. As part of this initiative, four Centres of Excellence for Minority Languages have been approved at:  University of Mumbai  University of Delhi  Gujarat University  Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya These Centres have been approved at a total cost of Rs. 142.11 crore. The Centres provide facilities such as manuscript preservation units, libraries, archival facilities, researchblocks, specialised laboratories and digital infrastructure. They support research and academic activities relating to minority and classical languages, facilitate documentation and digitisation of manuscripts, and contribute to capacity building and skill development, including in areas such as curation, translation and digital archiving. (c) : No project proposals exclusively relating to preservation of minority cultural heritage sites have been received in the Ministry under PMJVK for consideration. (d) : The Centres of Excellence established in Universities under PMJVK promote academic collaboration and research activities related to language preservation, manuscript documentation and digitisation. However, no separate programme specifically for conducting impact studies on linguistic preservation programmes is presently being implemented by the Ministry. *****