HRD ministry clarifies Sanskrit as an elective language  

The HRD ministry said that IITs have been requested to offer Sanskrit as an elective subject or as a language course for students who wish to study it.

In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, HRD Minister Smriti Irani said a committee headed by former CEC N Gopalaswami, had suggested that IITs may facilitate the study of science and technology as reflected in Sanskrit literature, along with an inter-disciplinary study of Sanskrit and modern subjects.

"In consonance with the recommendations, IITs have been requested to offer Sanskrit as an elective subject or as a language course for students who wish to study the language," Irani said.

Responding to another question related to IITs, Irani said although 2,463 teaching positions in these institutes were vacant as on September 1, 2015, research scholars, contract adjunct and visiting faculty more than adequately compensated for these.

Earlier the HRD Ministry has despatched an advisory to all Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to consider the idea of offering the ancient language as an elective course to their students.

The advisory also requests the IITs to create posts and appoint teachers for the above purpose with the approval of their respective Board of Governors. The letter carries a link to the soft copy of a report submitted by an expert panel, headed by former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami.