india

Updated: Aug 12, 2019 09:37 IST

Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said on Sunday that the Centre was focused on promoting all 22 Indian languages, but clarified that the central government was not opposed to the usage of English language even though it wasn’t an Indian language.

The human resource development (HRD) minister also asserted that no language will be imposed on any state in the country, he said in reference to the controversy over a clause in the Union government’s draft National Education Policy (NEP) that mandated compulsory teaching of Hindi in schools across the country. The clause 4.5.9 of the draft policy that dealt with the bouquet of languages a student had to learn in middle school was dropped from the draft education policy in June after uproar by opposition parties and southern states.

“Why will we impose any language? We have always worked to strengthen all Indian languages. But English is not an Indian language,” he said in an interview to Hindustan Times.

Pokhriyal added that the government was not “opposing English” language, which “should also be learnt and studied”.

When asked about improving employability of students who have completed their graduation, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said that the Centre was studying the curriculum to make it more adaptable to the demands of industries. “...the way our Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] has taken revolutionary initiatives -- such as Make in India, Skill India, Digital India, Start-ups, etc -- will help us to develop our talent and link it with production within the country,” he said, citing government initiatives aimed at boosting skill development and innovations in the country.

According to a government survey by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), India’s unemployment was at 6.1% in 2017-2018. While some reports said that this was a 45-year high, officials say the numbers cannot be compared since the methodology is different.

Pokhriyal also spoke about his ministry’s concerns over the quality of research work across Indian universities, saying that the Centre wants to create a model that ensures there is no duplication so that “every new research builds upon the knowledge created by the previous one”.

For this, he said, the government had announced the formation of the National Research Foundation in the Union Budget 2019-20 presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 5. “This is a major thing,” the Union minister said.

“We have been leaders in knowledge creation. Even scientists from places like Nasa [National Aeronautics and Space Administration] have acknowledged the excellence of Sanskrit as a language... We are again focusing on becoming leaders,” he said.

Three Indian universities – including the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay -- made it to the top 200 of Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2020 released last month.

Apart from this, the education minister also spoke about providing benefits of Right to Education Act (RTE), which will be applicable in Jammu and Kashmir after the Centre revoked special status accorded to the state, and ensuring women’s safety on college campuses.