Lok Sabha Question No. 101 (STARRED), answered on 2021-12-06
Subject: Engineering Programme in Indian Languages
Ministry: Education
Asked by: P.R. Natarajan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 101 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.12.2021

## Engineering Programme in Indian Languages

## *101. SHRI NATARAJAN P.R.:

## Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the National Education Policy-2020 envisages One Year Engineering Programme in Indian Languages;
- (b)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  time  by  which  this  programme  is  likely  to  be commenced; (c)  whether  the  examination  under  the  said  programme  will  be  conducted  in  the  mother tongue of concerned State and if so, the details thereof; and (d)  the  steps  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  to  impart  Engineering/
- Technical Education in Indian languages?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION

## (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

- (a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  to  (d)  OF  THE  LOK SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  101  FOR  06.12.2021  ASKED  BY  SHRI NATARAJAN  P.R.,  HON'BLE  MEMBER  OF  PARLIAMENT  REGARDING ENGINEERING PROGRAMME IN INDIAN LANGUAGES

- (a)  to  (d): National  Education  Policy-2020  (NEP  2020)  does  not  envisage  One  Year Engineering Programme in Indian Languages. However, NEP-2020 has made recommendations  for  use  of  mother  tongue/local  language  as  a  medium  of  instruction, and/or offer programmes bilingually in the higher education system.

In this regard, Government has taken a number of steps including:

- (i) All  India  Council  for  Technical  Education  (AICTE)  has  given  approval  to  nineteen engineering colleges to impart engineering courses in six Indian languages for engineering programmes across ten states from the Academic year 2021-22.

The details are as follows:

|   S.No. | Languages   | States                                                       | Examination   |
|---------|-------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|---------------|
|       1 | Hindi       | Rajasthan,Haryana,Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh | Bilingual     |
|       2 | Telugu      | Andhra Pradesh                                               | Bilingual     |
|       3 | Marathi     | Maharashtra                                                  | Bilingual     |
|       4 | Bengali     | West Bengal                                                  | Bilingual     |
|       5 | Tamil       | Tamil Nadu                                                   | Bilingual     |
|       6 | Kannada     | Karnataka                                                    | Bilingual     |

- (ii)   AICTE has developed a tool called 'AICTE Translation Automation AI Tool' with a vision to translate English language online courses into eleven different Indian languages for access to a more significant number of students in the rural area.
- (iii)    The  government  is  working  towards  translating  reference  materials  for  courses  of engineering  in  major  regional  languages.  Study  Webs  of  Active  Learning  for  Young Aspiring  Minds  (SWAYAM)  is  a  Govt.  of  India's  own  Massive  Open  Online  Courses (MOOCs) platform, which has been offering online courses in disciplines such as Science, Engineering & Technology, Humanities & Social Sciences, Law, Management etc. This is a continuous activity and some of the popular SWAYAM courses, including Transcription of Video, are translated into Indian languages, so that learners can select a language of their choice and learn the courses better in their local language.

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