Sanskrit Institute to be Upgraded Like IITs

Delhi based Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan which has 11 campuses , a deemed university that promotes Sanskrit, is to be upgraded into an "institution of national importance" like the Indian Institutes of Technology and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences as per information of the Government
Once it gets the desired status Sansthan to decide academic matters and expand by opening new campuses and research centres and affiliating more schools and colleges.

Right now it teaches Sanskrit courses from undergraduate to DLitt level and researches the Sanskrit language, literature and scriptures.

Besides that the Sansthan also runs over 100 Sanskrit-medium pathsalas, mostly in north India, whose pupils take the Sansthan's own school-leaving exam and Sanskrit teachers or researchers.

As per the information the Centre was keen to accept a Sanskrit Commission recommendation to grant the "national importance" status to the Sansthan along with special powers to continue its school-level courses.

The 12-member commission, headed by Satyabrat Shastri, was formed in January last year by the UPA government and handed its recommendations to the Union human resource development ministry last month.

The Sansthan had opened its first 10 campuses before the University Grants Commission notified new regulations in 2010, restricting deemed universities to a maximum six campuses.

After the Sansthan’s status upgraded, the Sansthan will be able to open its fresh campuses without the regulator's permission.

The Sansthan recently acquired land at Devprayag in Uttarakhand for a 12th campus. The report will be tabled in Parliament next session.

The proposed upgrade would enhance the Sansthan's research activities, especially on ways of imparting Sanskrit education through modern tools and integrating traditional Sanskrit knowledge into modern education.

Right now apart from AIIMS and 16 IITs, 30 National Institutes of Technology and the five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, have "Institutions of National Importance” status.