Lok Sabha Question No. 4123 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-18
Subject: Promotion of Bhojpuri Language at School Level
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Daroga Prasad Saroj

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4123 ANSWERED ON 18.08.2025

## Promotion of Bhojpuri Language at School Level

†4123. Shri Daroga Prasad Saroj:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of steps taken by the Government to promote Bhojpuri language at the school level and Higher Education level in the country;
- (b)  the  details  of  the  students  enrolled  for  studying  Bhojpuri  language  in  Secondary  and Higher Secondary level schools in various States of the country;
- (c)  whether  any  funds  have  been  allocated  for  promotion  of  indigenous  languages  or promoting education in mother tongue in the country; and
- (d) if so, the details of the initiatives taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a) to (d)  The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, at para 4.11, inter-alia , provides that wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8  and  beyond,  will  be  the  home  language/mother tongue/local  language/regional  language. As  of  now,  under  the  existing  policy,  children  are  learning  three  languages  based  on  the choices of States, regions, and of course the students themselves.

As a follow up of NEP, 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE)  2023  following  initiatives  have  been  taken  in  the  area  of  School  Education  to promote Indian languages- i. Textbooks  of  NCERT  viz.  Science,  Mathematics,  Social  Science,  Art  Education, Environmental Education, Health and Well-being, etc. developed have been translated into 22 Indian language and in  English and are available for use by states and  all school systems. These books can be accessed at https://ncert.nic.in/textbook.php

ii. Central  Board  of  Secondary  Education  (CBSE)  has  prescribed  using  child's  home language, mother tongue or a familiar regional language as a medium of instruction at the Foundational Stage and also at the Preparatory Stage.  Schools are free to use Bhojpuri as a medium of instruction accordingly.

iii. NCERT  conducts  a  special  training  programme  for  teachers  from  national  level school systems and teachers in the states known as NISHTHA (National Initiative for School Heads' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement) and this programme covers teachers from states also. Language education and language pedagogy and teaching learning of Indian languages is one of the major focuses of the programme.

iv. Guidelines and advocacy materials for Foundational Stage have been developed and disseminated  to  states  and  other  national  and  state  level  agencies  involved  in  school education. The materials are available on https://ncert.nic.in/ NCERT website.

v. Development  of  Primers  in  all  Indian  languages: Primer  is  the  first  book  for learners  and  for  anyone  in  the  language  to  learn  and  get  familiarised  with  the  language through visual, text form and to notice and use language in contexts. Primers are available on NCERT and Ministry of Education Website. https://ncert.nic.in/primers.php Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru and NCERT have jointly developed Primers in all 117 mother  tongues  listed  in  the  Census  of  India.  The  Primers  are  aimed  at  documenting  and teaching the languages in school.

vi. Bhasha  Sangam  under  Ek  Bharat  and  Shrestha  Bharat: Government  of  India initiated a nationwide programme to promote all Indian language through the programme of Bhasha Sangam. Children in school learn 100 sentences in the 22 scheduled languages with audio and video support. The progarmme has been in implementation last seven years and schools across the country are participating and learning the Indian languages. Both textual and audio-video materials are available on DIKSHA portal at https://ncert.nic.in/bs-2021.php vii. Multilingual  Jadui  Pitara: Jaadui  Pitara  has  been  developed  as  an  exemplar  of content needed in any school for the Foundational Stage. It represents a wide range of useful content and demonstrates the sensibilities (age-appropriate, sensory experience and local) to be kept in mind while developing such content. The Pitara has toys, games, puzzles, puppets, posters, flashcards, story cards, story books, playbooks for students, and teacher handbooks. The core transformative aspect of NCFFS is 'learn through play'. The NCF-FS describes how children at  this  stage  learn  best  through  play  -  through  activity  and  doing.  Children  enjoy learning  in  several  ways  -  talking,  listening,  using  toys,  working  with  material,  painting, drawing,  singing,  dancing,  running,  and  jumping.  Jaadui  Pitara  is  available  in  22  Indian

languages and also on NCERT website https://diksha.gov.in/jadoo/explore.html Jaadui Pitara has also been converted into digital form and available in 22 languages on https://ejaaduipitara.ncert.gov.in/explorejaadu.html viii. Bhartiya Bhasha Utsav : Schools, teacher education and other educational institutions  are  celebrating  Indian  language  through  various  cultural,  ethnic  and  social  and academic activities. December 11 is the final day of the Utsav in which schools and other institutions are showcasing their Indian languages activities in their schools.

ix. The Bharatiya Bhasha Summer Camp (BBSC) 2025 , launched on 19th May 2025, aims  to  encourage  students  to  learn  one  more  Indian  language  of  their  choice.  It  seeks  to promote multilingualism among school students in a joyful and engaging way, enabling them to experience the linguistic and cultural unity of Indian languages. The camp helps students acquire basic conversational skills in an Indian language other than their mother tongue and fosters  mutual  respect,  cultural  appreciation,  and  national  integration  through  language learning.  As  on  13th  August  2025,  BBSC  has  recorded  a  total  participation  of  5.26  crore across themes  from  27  States/Union Territories  (UTs)/Autonomous  Bodies,  with  the language basket comprising 74 languages, including 22 scheduled languages.

As per recommendations of NEP  2020, University Grants Commission (UGC) in collaboration with Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti (BBS) has conceptualized a project 'ASMITA' to promote  a  culture  of  academic  writing  and  translation  of  textbooks  in  Higher  Education. Under  this  project,  23  nodal  universities  were  identified  with  their  nominated  member universities from their respective states for identifying authors for writing/preparing original text-books  in  22  Bharatiya  Bhasha  for  Undergraduate  (UG)  level  courses.  Till  date,  759 books have been proposed by the Nodal Universities and more than 1089 potential authors have  been  identified  for  writing/translation  of  text-books  in  22  Bharatiya  Bhasha  for Undergraduate (UG) level courses.   The projected plan is to produce 1000 textbooks each in 22 languages, altogether 22,000 books.

A comprehensive Digital Dashboard has also been developed with extensive features for data management and coordination of the project. The Dashboard has been designed to provide real time status about the book writing process. It has log-in facilities for all the stakeholders.

Further,  since  Education  is  a  subject  under  the  Concurrent  List  of  the  Constitution,  the respective  State/Union  Territory  (UT)  Governments  and  its  agencies  may  develop  suitable curriculum in regional languages including Bhojpuri as per the local needs and demands, in accordance with the spirit and recommendations of the NEP, 2020.

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