CHANDIGARH: Sanskrit will be made a mandatory subject at all government schools in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said on Monday.
The announcement came during a meeting of the Himachal Sanskrit Academy in Shimla, where the CM assured the academy members that there would be no dearth of funds for the efforts to promote the ancient language. Virbhadra also asked them to prepare projects and to submit them to the Centre, which he said had enough funds for Sanskrit colleges. He also said that he would consider granting statutory status to the Academy.
Further, he said the Vedic language had existed in the perfect form even before the the earliest prime languages of the world such as Greek, Latin and Hebrew evolved. The Academy members were also asked to complete the formalities for taking over Tungesh Sanskrit College at Cheog in Shimla district.
He also gave the nod to the Academy’s proposal for publishing a biannual research journal jointly with Himachal Pradesh University. The dearness allowance will be applicable to the Academy employees as and when announced by the government from time to time, he added.
Moreover, it has been decided that temple priests will be trained in Vedic thoughts and literature.
Incidentally, Acharya Dev Vrat recently became the first Governor of the state to take the oath of office in Sanskrit, which highlighted his gurukul moorings.