HRD Minister Smriti Irani to hit back at Sanskrit baiters

NEW DELHI: Accused of imposing Sanskrit on school students, the HRD Ministry, headed by Smriti Irani, is likely to hit back at its critics with the defense that it was the UPA government, and not the NDA, which was on a mission to promote Sanskrit in schools and higher education.

According to sources, the ministry has dug out circulars issued towards the fag end of the UPA-II government that proposed making Sanskrit compulsory in all schools up to Class X. The HRD Ministry, under the UPA government, had held a meeting with the CBSE Chairman and NCERT chief on December 19, 2013, to explore how the Sanskrit could be made compulsory in all schools up to Class X as recommended by the ‘National Conference on Importance of Sanskrit in Modern Age’ held in September. Another circular issued on January 7, 2014, by UGC under the then HRD Minister Pallam Raju also asked all central universities to explore the possibility of starting Sanskrit departments.

Irani's deicsion to drop German as a third language mid-session in all KV schools for Sanskrit has been criticised by educationists and met stiff resistance from parents.