TENKASI: A glaring disparity in the allocation of funds by the Union Government for the promotion of classical Indian languages has come to light.
An RTI application filed by The New Indian Express has revealed the disparity in fund allocation by the union government for the promotion of classical Indian languages. While the union government released a grant of Rs 1,074 crore for the promotion of Sanskrit from 2017-2022, as per an RTI reply sent by the Central Sanskrit University (CSU) in New Delhi, other classical languages such as Tamil, Telugu and Kannada have been getting significantly lower allocations. In response to unstarred questions by five MPs, the Ministry of Culture in 2020 stated that only Rs 22.94 crore was allocated for Tamil while Telugu and Kannada received Rs 3 crore each during 2017-20.
The New Indian Express had filed 13 queries with the Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) on the fund allocation for the promotion of all classical languages on March 16, out of which only two were answered.
"One of the main objectives of the CSU is to promote and propagate Sanskrit learning, teaching, and research. The Ministry of Education releases 100% grants to CSU. The university was provided with Rs 1,074 crore for the five years, out of which Rs 407.41 crore was released during the Covid-hit years (2020-21 and 2021-22)," said CSU CPIO Dr RG Murali Krishnan.
Table: Fund allocation for CSU
Year Allocation (in crore)
2017-18 Rs 205.4
2018-19 Rs 214.37
2019-20 Rs 246.99
2020-21 Rs 192.85
2021-22 Rs 214.56
Total Rs 1,074
'No provision to declare national language in Constitution'
In a reply to the second query, Ministry of Home Affairs CPIO P Venukuttan Nair said, "There is no provision in the Constitution of India regarding declaration of any language as the national language."
Moreover, an RTI communication from the Department of Official Language was issued in Hindi language only. It may be noted that many activists from Tamil Nadu had on several occasions condemned the union ministries for using the Hindi language as the medium to respond to RTI applicants from non-Hindi speaking States, stating that it is in violation of provisions of the Official Languages Act.
Two months ago, a retired Border Security Force personnel, S Vijay Kumar, received an RTI response in Hindi to questions he filed in English. After he lodged a grievance, the headquarters filed a response in English.