Lok Sabha Question No. 2644 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-09
Subject: Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Bhojraj Nag, Shri Praveen Patel

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-2644

ANSWERED ON - 09/03/2026

## Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme

† 2644. Shri Bhojraj Nag:

Shri Praveen Patel:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- a) the  objectives  and  implementation  framework  of  the  Bharatiya  Bhasha  Pustak Scheme;
- b) the  details  of  allocation  and  distribution  of  books  including  partnerships  with publishers,  academic  institutions  and  content  creators  and  the  number  of  books targeted for digitization in Phase-I;
- c) whether the Government has established mechanisms for quality assurance, copyright management and ensure accessibility, if so, the details thereof;
- d) whether the said mechanism proposes to extend coverage of vocational and technical educational materials; and
- e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (e):  The  National  Education  Policy  (NEP),  2020  highlights  the  importance  of multilingualism and places emphasis on promotion of all Indian languages. 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  Budget2025-26,  to  provide  books  in  Indian  Languages  for school and higher education in digital format. BBPS envisions making educational content available in 22 Indian languages.

The  Ministry  of  Education  along  with  the  statutory  bodies  i.e.  the  University  Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) have taken several initiatives for provision of content in Indian Languages.

In  order  to  promote  a  culture  of  academic  writing  and  translation  of  textbooks  in  higher education,  UGC  under  the  'Augmenting  Study  Materials  in  Indian  Languages  through Translation  and  Academic  Writing'  (ASMITA)  initiative,  has  identified  through  23  nodal universities, more than 1089 authors for writing/preparing textbooks in 22 Indian languages for under-graduate level courses.

AICTE, through its Technical Book Writing Scheme, has facilitated the translation of nearly 447  books  into  12  scheduled  Indian  languages.  Further,  to  enhance  accessibility,  AICTE provides high-quality engineering books in Indian languages in digital format through the eKumbh platform.

The  National  Mission  for  Education  through  ICT  (NMEICT),  a  flagship  scheme  of  the government, aims to leverage the potential of Information, Communication, and Technology in  all  educational  processes.  Under  the  NMEICT  umbrella,  the  National  Digital  Library  of India (NDLI) was launched in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT-KGP). NDLI provides free access to a vast online repository of educational resources, including textbooks, research papers, journals, archived newspapers and multimedia content, etc  to  all  learners  across  the  nation. The  platform  supports  content  in  39  Indian  languages, thereby  facilitating  inclusive  and  multilingual  access  to  knowledge  for  learners,  educators, and researchers across the country and beyond.

Ministry  of  Education  has  launched  Study  Webs  of  Active-Learning  for  Young  Aspiring Minds  (SWAYAM)  platform  which  hosts  content  curated  by  premier  Institutions  and  is available free of cost with the approach of 'Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime' Learning.  As on date,  more  than  370  SWAYAM  courses  have  been  translated  in  multiple  Indian  languages including  Bengali,  Gujarati,  Hindi,  Kannada,  Malayalam,  Marathi,  Odia,  Tamil,  Telugu, Punjabi and Assamese.

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