• Central Government to merge Classical Kannada Centre with Bharatiya Bhasha Vishwavidyalaya at Nagpur 
• A deep conspiracy which will be opposed, says Kannada Development Authority Chairman T.S. Nagabharana 

Mysore/Mysuru: Mysuru-based Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), set up over 50 years ago to promote Indian languages, will be upgraded to a Central University and will be a part of Bharatiya Bhasha Vishwavidyalaya to be set up at Nagpur in Maharashtra. Also, the Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation (IITI) will be housed at the present CIIL building in Mysuru.

While it is a good thing for CIIL to be upgraded into a Central University, the main casualty is the Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Kannada (CESCK) presently housed at CIIL. With this CESCK will lose its classical identity or autonomous status and would be relegated to be just a ‘Kannada Department’ in Bharatiya Bhasha Vishwavidyalaya, Nagpur along with other Classical Languages like Tamil, Odiya and Telugu. 

Highly placed sources told Star of Mysore that Deputy Secretary, Department of Higher Education (Language Division), Ministry of Education, Suman Dixit has written to CIIL Director Shailendra Mohan on Sept. 6 (the copy of which is with SOM) regarding the implementation of certain recommendations under the National Education Policy-2020 (NEP-2020). 

Expansion and merger

In one of its recommendations, the Ministry official states under the title ‘Institutes of                                                     Classical Languages’, “CIIL to explore the possibility of expanding their scope of work regarding the Centres of Excellence of Classical Languages under its administrative control and Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT), Chennai in respect of Classical Tamil.”

In another recommendation under the title ‘Classical Language Institutes will aim to be merged with Universities, while maintaining their Autonomy’, the letter states, “CIIL and CICT need to ascertain the views of the CIIL, Mysuru and Centres of Excellence of Classical Languages regarding the proposed merger with the Universities.” 

The notification from the Centre clearly states that the CESCK will be merged with the Central University, that is Bharatiya Bhasha Vishwavidyalaya. Sources said that if the CIIL is given the status of a Central University, then there is no question of autonomous status for CESCK and it will be only a ‘Department of Kannada’, stripped of its classical status. 

MoU pending with Centre

Notably, apart from CIIL, the Centre’s communication has also been sent to CICT in Chennai. People in the know of things said that this is nothing but hegemony and is a deeper and longer conspiracy to shift CESCK from Mysuru and CICT from Chennai. “This is the reason why the Central Government is not clearing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Mysore for allotment of land for CESCK,” sources said. 

When B.S. Yediyurappa was the Chief Minister, there were plans to shift CESCK to Shivamogga but the plans did not materialise, sources added. It may be recalled here that last September, the University of Mysore had approved granting of a four-acre and 20 guntas land on Manasagangothri campus (behind the PG hostel) for establishing CESCK. 

Later, the then Kannada and Culture Minister C.T. Ravi had directed the Mysore University to give 10-acre land at the foot of Chamundi Hill where the Varsity is planning for a second campus.

The land allotment depends on the implementation of the MoU signed by the CIIL and the Mysore University which has been put on backburner by the Central Government now. 

Minister writes to Director

 Meanwhile, the present Kannada and Culture Minister V. Sunil Kumar has written to CIIL Director Shailendra Mohan on Aug. 18 seeking information about the University of Mysore’s offer of grant of land to CESCK. 

The Minister wrote, “It has come to my notice that the Kannada Classical Centre is still functioning in the CIIL premises despite the University of Mysore agreeing to grant land. In the direction of CESCK functioning as an autonomous institution, the former CIIL Director had sent an MoU to the Ministry of Education, Department of Higher Education for approval. But after that there has been no additional information to the Karnataka Government in this regard.”

The Minister has directed the CIIL Director to send a comprehensive report to him along with all the available documents about the present status of the MoU and also other learning and research projects initiated by the CIIL along with financial details. 

Tamil Nadu opposed move last year 

The issue of merging Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT), an autonomous institution, with Bharatiya Bhasha Vishwavidyalaya has been opposed in Tamil Nadu. The issue was raised last year by MPs and MLAs, cutting across political parties.

Heads of political parties had requested the then TN Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami to take up this issue with the Centre so that the CICT would continue to function as an autonomous body based in Chennai.