Education Ministry approves five Centres of Excellence for Classical Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit

The Ministry of Education has approved the establishment of five Centres of Excellence dedicated to the study of Classical Assamese, Bengali, Pali, Marathi, and Prakrit, with the institutions expected to focus on academic research, digitisation, preservation and wider dissemination of their linguistic heritage.

The approval was conveyed through an Office Memorandum issued by the Department of Higher Educationâs Language Division on October 1, 2026. The initiative will place dedicated research centres for the five languages across universities and higher education institutions in five locations.

Five institutions selected for the classical language centres

Under the Ministry of Educationâs decision, each Centre of Excellence will focus on one of the five languages. The institutions selected are:

The centres are intended to create dedicated institutional capacity for research and academic work related to the respective languages.

Research and digitisation among key focus areas

According to the Ministry, the Centres of Excellence will work towards strengthening academic research, digitisation, preservation and dissemination of the heritage associated with the five classical languages.

The emphasis on digitisation is particularly relevant to the preservation of manuscripts, literary material and other historical sources. The proposed centres are expected to provide institutional platforms through which such material can be studied, documented and made available for wider academic use.

The initiative also places universities at the centre of efforts to expand specialised scholarship in languages whose literary and historical traditions extend across different periods of India's intellectual and cultural history.

Five languages received classical status in 2024

The decision follows the Union Cabinetâs October 2024 approval granting Classical Language status to Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit. The move expanded the list of languages recognised by the government under the classical-language category.

The establishment of dedicated Centres of Excellence now provides separate institutional locations for specialised work in each of these languages.

Odisha welcomes Centre for Classical Pali

The approval of the Centre for Classical Pali at the Central University of Odisha has drawn a welcome from Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.

In a post on X, Majhi said the centre would strengthen the study, preservation and promotion of Pali, which he described as being closely connected with India's intellectual, spiritual and cultural traditions. He also said the initiative would contribute to Odisha's role in preserving India's linguistic and civilisational heritage.

Pali has an important place in the study of Buddhist literature and philosophy, making the proposed centre relevant not only to language studies but also to research into India's intellectual and religious traditions.

Dedicated centres to support long-term scholarship

With the five institutions identified for the new Centres of Excellence, the Ministry's latest decision establishes a dedicated academic framework for Classical Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit.

The focus on research, preservation and digitisation is expected to support systematic documentation of linguistic and literary resources while creating opportunities for further academic study and dissemination of these traditions.

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