Project ASMITA

• 20 Jul 2024

Source: TH

Why in News?

Recently, project ASMITA (Augmenting Study Materials in Indian languages through Translation and Academic Writing) was launched to produce 22,000 books in Indian languages in the next five years.

• It is one of the several initiatives taken by the government to promote Indian languages in the education system on the lines of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

What is Project ASMITA?

• About:
  • It was launched by the Union Ministry of Education and the University Grants Commission (UGC).
  • It is a collaborative effort of the UGC and the Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti to promote Indian languages in education.
    • The UGC was established in 1953 (became a statutory organisation in 1956), for the coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of teaching, examination and research in university education.
    • Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti is a High Powered Committee for Promotion of Indian Languages constituted by the Ministry of Education in 2021.
  • 13 nodal universities along with member universities from various regions have been identified to lead this project.
  • The UGC has created a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the book-writing process in each assigned language.  
  • The project aims to produce 1,000 books in 22 languages within five years, resulting in 22,000 books in Bharatiya Bhasha (Indian languages).
    • Also, the commission aims to produce 1,800 textbooks covering Arts, Science and Commerce streams by June 2025.
• Other Initiatives Launched with Project ASMITA:
  • Bahubhasha Shabdkosh: 
    • Developed by the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) in collaboration with the Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti, it is a comprehensive multilingual dictionary repository.
    • It will help in using Bharatiya words, phrases and sentences for various new age domains like IT, Industry, Research, and Education.
  • Real-time Translation Architecture: 
    • Developed by National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) and Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti, it aims to make a framework for enhancing real-time translation in Indian languages.
      • NETF has been conceived as an autonomous body, incorporated as a Society that would facilitate decision making on the deployment, induction and use of technology for the realisation of NEP objectives.
• Objective:
  • It will help to create a comprehensive pool of academic resources in 22 scheduled languages, bridge linguistic divide, foster social cohesion and unity and also transform the nation’s youth into socially-responsible global citizens.

Note

• The Eighth Schedule to the Indian Constitution consists of the following 22 languages: 
  • Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri.

Read more: National Education Policy, 2020

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Question (PYQ)

Prelims:

Q. Under which one of the following Constitution Amendment Acts, four languages were added to the languages under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, thereby raising their number to 22? (2008)

(a) Constitution (Ninetieth Amendment) Act

(b) Constitution (Ninety-first Amendment) Act

(c) Constitution (Ninety-second Amendment) Act

(d) Constitution (Ninety-third Amendment) Act

Ans: (c)

Q. Which one of the following was given classical language status recently? (2015)

(a) Odia 

(b) Konkani

(c) Bhojpuri 

(d) Assamese

Ans: (a)