Bhasha Sangam Initiative: Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat

• 02 Nov 2021

Why in News

Recently, the Ministry of Education launched various initiatives under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) to commemorate Rashtriya Ekta Diwas.

• The Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat was announced by the Prime Minister in 2015 on the occasion of the 140^th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
• The Rashtriya Ekta Diwas is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of Shri Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Key Points

• About the Initiatives:
  
  • Bhasha Sangam:
    
    • It is an initiative of the Ministry of Education under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, to teach basic sentences of everyday usage in 22 Indian languages (Eighth Schedule languages).
    • It is developed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
    • The idea is that people should acquire basic conversational skills in an Indian language other than their mother tongue.
      
      • It is available on DIKSHA, ePathshala and through 22 booklets.
  • Other initiatives launched include Bhasha Sangam Mobile App and the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) Quiz App.
• Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat:
  
  • It was launched in 2015 to promote engagement amongst the people of different States/UTs so as to enhance mutual understanding and bonding between people of diverse cultures, thereby securing stronger unity and integrity of India.
  • It is an initiative of the Ministry of Education.
  • Every State and UT in the country would be paired with another State/UT for a time period, during which they would carry out a structured engagement with one another in the spheres of language, literature, cuisine, festivals, cultural events, tourism etc.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel 

• He was born on 31^st October 1875 in Nadiad, Gujarat.
  
  • The National Unity Day (Rashtriya Ekta Diwas) is celebrated on 31^st October to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
• He was the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India.
• Headed various Committees of the Constituent Assembly of India, namely:
  
  • Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights.
  • Committee on Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas.
  • Provincial Constitution Committee
• Integrated the farmer’s cause in Kheda Satyagraha (1918) and Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) with the national freedom movement.
  
  • Women of Bardoli bestowed the title ‘Sardar’ on Vallabhbhai Patel, which means ‘a Chief or a Leader’.
• Known as the “Iron Man of India” for playing an important role in unification and integration of Indian princely states into the Indian federation and for convincing princely states to align with the Indian Union.
• Requested the people of India to live together by uniting (Ek Bharat) in order to create a foremost India (Shresth Bharat).
  
  • This ideology still reflects in the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative which seeks to make India self-reliant.
• Remembered as the ‘Patron Saint of India’s Civil Servants’ as he established the modern all-India services system.
• In 2018, the Government unveiled the Statue of Unity in Gujarat in Patel’s honour.

Source: PIB