Lok Sabha Question No. 5796 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-30
Subject: Scheduled Languages in Educational Institutions
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Mohibbullah

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.5796

ANSWERED ON 30.03.2026

## Scheduled Languages in Educational Institutions

5796. Shri Mohibbullah:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of schools and higher educational institutions in the country offering teaching in languages listed in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution, language-wise and State/UTwise;
- (b)  the  number  of  sanctioned  and  vacant  posts  of  teachers/lecturers  for  Urdu  and  other Scheduled Languages in schools for undergraduate and postgraduate levels;
- (c)  the  number  of  Urdu  graduates  and  postgraduates  appointed  in  Government  institutions during the last five years, year-wise and State-wise;
- (d)  whether the Government has conducted any assessment of the shortage of teachers for Scheduled Languages, if so, the details of the findings thereof; and
- (e)  the  measures  taken  or  proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  to  promote  linguistic diversity and ensure adequate recruitment in Scheduled Languages?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR)

(a)  to  (e):  Education,  a  subject  in  the  Concurrent  List  of  the  Constitution,  is  a  shared responsibility of both the Centre and the States in relation to higher and school education. An overwhelming majority of schools fall within the administrative control of  respective State Governments  and  Union  Territory  Administrations.  Likewise,  a  vast  majority  of  students study in Higher Education Institutions governed by State Governments/UTs.

Government  of India launched National Education Policy 2020 (NEP), for holistic development of students. NEP highlights the importance of multilingualism and places strong emphasis on promotion of all Indian languages. NEP recommends, wherever possible, the use of the mother tongue/local language as the medium of instruction at least up to Class 5, and preferably up to Class 8.

Central  Universities,  as  autonomous  institutions  established  by  Acts  of  Parliament,  offer academic programmes in various Indian languages with the approval of their statutory bodies.

Several  of  these  universities  also  have  well-established  departments  dedicated  to  different languages.

Further, to ensure the timely filling of vacancies, all Central Higher Educational Institutions have undertaken Mission Mode recruitment drive since 2022. As of 24.10.2025, a total of 29,979  posts  have  been  filled  under  this  initiative,  including  17,494  faculty  positions.In addition, institutions supplement regular faculty strength by engaging Guest/Visiting Faculty in  specialized  language  areas  wherever  required.  Efforts  are  also  made  to  strengthen linguistic research through research activities, organization of seminars and conferences, and promotion of publications in Scheduled Languages.

Occurring of vacancies and filling thereof, however is a continuous process. The vacancies arise due to promotion, retirement, resignation, death, opening of new institutions, schemes or  projects,  and  additional  requirements  on  account  of  enhanced  students'  strength  and expansion of capacity in existing institutions.

To  promote  the  development  of  a  multilingual  teacher  workforce,  the  Integrated  Teacher Education  Programme  (ITEP)  of  the  National  Council  for  Teacher  Education  (NCTE) includes Indian languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution as Language-I and Language-II within its Ability Enhancement and Value-Added courses.

In  alignment  with  the  objectives  of  NEP  2020,  and  with  the  aim  of  making  high-quality educational content in Indian languages accessible for students, the Bharitiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme  (BBPS)  has  been  announced  in  the  Union  Budget  2025-26,  to  provide  books  in Indian Languages for school and higher education in digital format. BBPS envisions making educational content available in all 22 Indian scheduled languages.

Further,  Government of India has undertaken several initiatives on promoting education in Indian  languages.  These  efforts  have  further  been  augmented  through  the  adoption  of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) technologies, including the development  of  Large  Language  Models,  translation  tools  and  language-enabled  digital services in Indian languages.

Government  of  India  has  started  the  BharatGen  project,  which  is  a  multimodal  Large Language  Model  Project  focused  on  developing  efficient  and  inclusive  AI  solutions  that support all 22  Scheduled  languages  and  enable  the  creation  of  a robust digital  AI infrastructure for India's unique socio-cultural context and diverse sectors.

Furthermore,  to  facilitate  the  translation  of  content  into  Indian  languages,  technological advancements include the development of AI-based translation tools such as ANUVADINI by  the  All  India  Council  for  Technical  Education  (AICTE)  and  BHASHINI,  an  initiative under the Digital India Programme.

The  National  Council  for  Promotion  of  Urdu  Language  (NCPUL),  an  autonomous  body under the Ministry of Education, has been set up to promote, develop, and propagate Urdu, Arabic, and Persian languages, including facilitating access to modern scientific, technological, and contemporary knowledge in these languages.

The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), a premier research body of the Ministry of Education, Govt of India plays  an important role in promoting and preserving India's rich linguistic  diversity  through  policy  support,  research,  resource  development,  translation, testing, and capacity building. Its key activities include:

- Language  Documentation  &  Preservation: CIIL  undertakes  documentation  of lesser-known languages. 117 languages, which have less than 10,000 speakers, have been taken up for preservation.
- Development  of  Language  Resources: It  creates  corpora,  dictionaries,  grammars, and digital repositories to support research and language technology in scheduled and non-scheduled languages of India. The resources have been developed in more than 150 languages, including scheduled and non-scheduled languages.
- Language  Education  &  Pedagogy: CIIL  develops  textbooks,  primers  (in  120+ languages),  and  teaching-learning  materials  aligned  with  the  National  Education Policy 2020 to promote multilingual education.
- Training & Capacity Building: CIIL conducts training for teachers, translators, and researchers to strengthen linguistic competencies nationwide.
- Fellowships/Scholarships/Internships: CIIL offers research scholarships/fellowships/Internships to the researchers/scholars working in all relevant  areas  pertaining  to  the  protection,  promotion  and  development  of  Indian Languages.

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