Mumbai : Haridwar-based Uttarakhand Sanskrit Academy, a body under the jurisdiction of the state government is set to launch a dedicated Sanskrit TV channel, presumably the first ever in the country.
The Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat, has given a green signal in this regard, who also serves as the chairman of the Uttarakhand Sanskrit academy. The channel is expected to air a host of programmes based on Sanskrit literature, besides news in Sanskrit.
A detailed plan on how the channel will be set up and other aspects of its functioning is expected to be discussed at a meeting at the state secretariat on Tuesday. Over one hundred Sanskrit scholars as well as vice-chancellors of universities and principals of colleges are expected to attend the meeting, Sri Krishna Semwal, vice chairman of the Sanskrit Academy said on Monday.
Academy secretary Suresh Charan Bahuguna said a proposal for the launch of the channel was sent to the government last year along with a batch of other proposals for the year 2014-15. The Sanskrit Academy was directed to prepare a detailed project report for the channel. Keeping in view the scale of what was planned, the academy sought guidance from other departments of the state government.
“The first meeting in this connection, presided over by the additional secretary, was held in the academy on 4th July and the second had been held yesterday,” Bahuguna said. He added that a clearer picture on the launch of the and other details would emerge only after the project report is submitted.
Harish Gururani, research officer at Sanskrit Academy, pointed out that there are about 800 TV channels in the country. “There are channels beaming Urdu-only and Bhojpuri-only content, but there was not one channel airing Sanskrit programmes. That is why we felt the need to start one. Once a Sanskrit channel starts functioning, Sanskrit will have its lost glory restored and will be popularized all over the world,” he said.
Sri Krishna Semwal added that Uttarakhand was aptly suited to have a Sanskrit language TV channel. “The state has accorded Sanskrit the status of the second official language. There is also an independent Sanskrit department in the government. The launch of a channel will come as an added boost to this classical language,” he said.
As the mother language of several Indian languages, Sanskrit has a historical importance like that of Latin in Europe.
