Centre set to tweak criteria for according classical language status
Upcoming Maharashtra Assembly election has renewed focus on the decade-long demand for special tag for Marathi
Amid a clamour for classical status for many languages, the Central government has decided to tweak the criteria for giving this special tag.
The Linguistics Expert Committee of the Union Culture Ministry submitted a report on October 10 last year, suggesting some tweaks and changes in the criteria for according classical status to any language, sources in the Ministry told The Hindu.
The sources said the matter had been taken up after the Centre asked them to reconsider the rules. The issue was taken up first at a meeting on June 21, 2023. The new set of criteria will be officially notified by a gazette notification after it is approved by the Union Cabinet.
This in effect means that classical language status for certain languages, chiefly Marathi, which are under the consideration of the government, might have to wait till the new criteria is notified.
The Linguistics Expert Committee comprises representatives of the Union Ministries of Home, Culture and four to five linguistic experts at any given time. It is chaired by the president of the Sahitya Akademi.
Six in list
India has six classical languages as of now – Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia. It was in 2014 that the government last granted the special tag.
Every Indian language had a classical phase: Scholar
Over the years, there have been demands from some States and literary circles for classical status to languages such as Marathi, Bengali, Assamese and Maithili. Of these, the case of Marathi has been pending for more than a decade.
In 2014, then Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had constituted a committee comprising Marathi experts under the chairmanship of Prof. Ranganath Pathare and the report was submitted to the Centre. The Pathare committee had concluded that Marathi fulfils all the parameters to be recognised as a classical language.
Mr. Chavan had also written to then Minister of Culture Shripad Naik requesting that the demand be fulfilled.
The issue has been raised time and again by MPs from Maharashtra in Parliament, and the Centre has given assurances at least three times in the last 10 years that Marathi was being considered for the special tag. Then Union Culture Minister G. Kishen Reddy informed Parliament in February 2022 that “the proposal for according classical status to Marathi was under the active consideration of the Ministry of Culture”.
Present criteria
The current criteria evolved by the government to determine declaration of a language as a classical language are – it should have high antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1,500-2,000 years, a body of ancient literature or texts that is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers, the literary tradition should be original and not borrowed from another speech community.
Another criterion is that the said language and literature should be distinct from its modern format; there may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots.
Once a language is notified a classical language, the Education Ministry provides certain benefits to promote it, which include two major annual international awards for scholars of eminence in the said languages. Apart from this, a centre of excellence for studies in the classical language is set up, and the University Grants Commission is requested to create a certain number of Professional Chairs in Central universities for the languages that get the classical tag.
With Assembly polls due in the Maharashtra in October, the demand for classical language status to Marathi has gained political momentum. Recently, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posted on X: “For the last ten years, the demand for declaring Marathi as a classical language has been pending with the Modi Sarkar”.
The Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra too upped the game by forming a “persuasion” committee, led by former diplomat Dnyaneshwar Muley, four months ago. The mandate of this committee is to liaison and pursue the matter with the Central government officials and give the feedback to the State government.
Lakhshmikant Deshmukh, a member of the committee, told The Hindu: “Maharashtra is a rich State. We do not need any funds for the promotion of the language. It is just a matter of pride for us.”
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