Archive · 3 Oct 2026
Education Ministry Approves Five Centres for Classical Languages
India’s Ministry of Education has approved five centres to study classical languages.
The centres will focus on Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit.
Each one will be based at a university or research institution.
They are meant to help scholars study these languages and their history.
They will also help preserve and digitise written materials.
The centres will work to make the languages’ heritage more widely available.
They are spread across five states.
Odisha’s chief minister welcomed the centre for Pali in his state.
The Ministry of Education approved five Centres of Excellence for classical Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit.
The centres are intended to support research, scholarly engagement, preservation, digitisation and wider dissemination of linguistic heritage.
Tezpur University will host the Assamese centre, and Visva-Bharati University will host the Bengali centre.
Deccan College in Pune will host the Marathi centre; Central University of Odisha and Central University of Gujarat will host the Pali and Prakrit centres.
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi welcomed the Pali centre, saying it would support the study, preservation and promotion of Pali.
- Who
- The Ministry of Education approved the centres; five higher educational institutions will host them.
- What
- Five Centres of Excellence will support studies of classical Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit.
- When
- The approval was reported on a Saturday; an office memorandum was issued on October 1. The articles do not specify the year.
- Where
- At institutions in Assam, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Odisha and Gujarat.
- Why
- To strengthen research, scholarly engagement, preservation, digitisation and wider dissemination of the languages’ heritage.
- Number of centres
- Five
- Languages
- Classical Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit
- Assamese and Bengali
- Tezpur University, Assam; Visva-Bharati University, West Bengal
- Marathi
- Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Pune, Maharashtra
- Pali
- Central University of Odisha, Odisha
- Prakrit
- Central University of Gujarat, Gujarat
- Approval document
- An office memorandum issued by the Ministry of Education on October 1
- Odisha response
- Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi welcomed the Pali centre
Sources
Education Ministry Approves 5 Centres Of Excellence For Classical Assamese, Bengali, Pali, Marathi & Prakrit To Preserve India’s Rich Linguistic Heritage
Government approves 5 Centres of Excellence to support Classical languages
Education Ministry approves five Centres of Excellence for Classical Languages
