VP Calls for AI Use in Sanskrit Manuscript Preservation

India's vast manuscript heritage requires modern digital tools to prevent classical knowledge from fading into obscurity. Speaking at the second convocation of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri National Sanskrit University in New Delhi, Vice-President C. P. Radhakrishnan urged young scholars and faculty to deploy artificial intelligence for the discovery, critical editing, and preservation of rare, unpublished texts.

The address placed university research directly inside the broader government push for Indian Knowledge Systems under the National Education Policy 2020. Pointing to dedicated programs like the Ashtadashi scheme, the Vice-President stressed that state-backed digitization efforts, including the ₹500 crore Gyan Bharatam Mission, aim to catalog endangered archival works and bring them into global circulation.

Describing Sanskrit as the unifying link across India's linguistic landscape, Radhakrishnan commended the institution's NAAC A++ accreditation and its sustained scholarship in classical domains like Prakrit and Vastu Shastra. The convocation, attended by Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar, also saw the release of three scholarly works: Amnaya Kalpataru, Vidyamitram, and Shodha Prabha.

Beyond academic preservation, Radhakrishnan called on graduates to balance technical advancement with real-world discipline. He cautioned students against digital distractions and substance abuse, urging them instead to channel their training toward research, language preservation, and long-term academic scholarship.