Common language critically important for socio-cultural-economic efficiency of Bharatvarsha 

 

 

Launguage is critical tool  that facilitate to build understanding, to promote growth oriented healthy interactions  as well as promote socio-cultural-economic -political efficiency of any nation. 

 

Languages also play important roles in promoting unity in diversity in multilingual , multi-cultural diverse nations like Bharatvarsha. Since the introduction of English language in official work practices as well as in judiciary  a few centuries ago Bharatvarsha has undergone irreversible social-cultural-economic-political metamorphosis. 

 

So , present policies needs developed recognizing present realities and potential emerging socio-cultural-economic systems efficiency guided realities. Languages are dynamic and evolving over time. 

A day long seminar – discussion titled ” Bharatvarsha : One Nation , Many Languages” was organized by Institute of Social and Cultural Studies Kolkata  in collaboration with Sri Aurobindo Bhavan Kolkata, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS) Kolkata of Ministry of Culture and with support of  Bharatiya Bhasa Samiti of Ministry of Education Government of India.

The day long seminar deliberated on  evolution of languages over thousands of years in Bharatvarsha and its usage. Shri Arindam Mukherjee Director of Institute of Social and Cultural Studies highlighted the need  to strengthen national , regional as well as local languages for inclusive growth of all languages  without loosing socio-economic efficiency.

Shri Biswajit Ganguly IAS ( Retired) Secretary of Sri Aurobindo Bhavan spoke on vision & thoughts of Sri Aurobindo on use of  mother  tongue ( language)  in education of children as well as  shared Sri Aurobindo’s own experience on language usages. Shri Swarup Prasad Ghosh Director of MAKAIAS , spoke on role of English language in building bridges of communication in diverse multi-cultural , multilingual  Bharatvarsha. Shri Ghosh mentioned Bharatvarsha has one of the largest English speaking community in the world. Ghosh mentioned English plays important role in building bridges of goodwill through communication transcending Hindi and non-Hindi speaking North-South divide of Bharatvarsha. Ghosh mentioned English play important role in areas of communication across all states and all sections of the society. 

 

With the evolution of Information Technology , multilingual communication both verbal & written communication are fast evolving. Translation from one language to  several other Indian languages has become easier.  Artificial Intelligence is going to play important role in areas of verbal & written languages translation management in upcoming time.  

 

 Bhashini, the National Language Technology Mission (NLTM), was launched by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in  2022 to provide language technology solutions as digital public goods through the Bhashini platform. 

Bhashini stands for Bhasha Interface for India, the National Language Translation Mission (NLTM).

Bhasini App – the tool, developed by the government, aims to facilitate real-time translation, fostering communication across diverse linguistic communities within the country. 

Bhasha Sangam app -the mobile application was launched by Ministry of Education Government of India and MyGov India with an objective to teach basic conversational skills in Indian languages other than mother tongue. 

Government of India is  making serious efforts to facilitate healthy growth of all languages  despite multiple challenges. 

New National Education Policy 2020 encourages  facilitation of education from pre-kindergarten to Higher Education levels in mother tongue/ language.  However,

one of the major critical challenges for youths studying in mother tongue is  employability after completion of education in other states.  Youths needs to learn multiple languages to empower themselves with communication efficiency. 

 

While speaking on the topic  former Governor of West Bengal  and  former Chief Justice , Shri  Shyamal Kumar Sen mentioned English language plays important role in facilitating understanding of various historic judgements pronounced over several centuries both in Indian courts as well as by courts in other nations . Sen opined English should continue to be language in both in Higher and Lower judiciary. Sen mentioned the Courts across the country have reasonable legal frame work to allow litigants to have access to  copies of judgements in their mother tongue or language of preference through official translation systems of the Courts. 

Shri Chittatosh Mookerjee   former Chief Justice of  Calcutta and Bombay High Court opined while efforts should be made to promote all languages and education should be available to all in mother tongue,  due care needs to be taken on economic  and efficiency issues related challenges.  Justice Chittatosh Mookerjee suggested Higher Judiciary involving High Courts and Supreme Court should continue to use English as official language of communication to have efficiency in judiciary and judgements delivery systems.

Former Justice Sambuddha Chakraborty highlighted usage of local languages in various levels of lower judiciary historically.