Participants at the National Translation Mission workshop at Karim City College on Friday. Picture by Antara Bose

Jamshedpur, July 22: A five-day workshop for teachers, scholars and postgraduate students to translate manuscripts from English to Urdu started yesterday at Karim City College under the aegis of National Translation Mission (NTM).

Implemented by Mysore-based Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), which has already started creating a pool of some of the best translators in the country, the workshop honed the skills of 35 participants.

University of Hyderabad comparative literature department head Nandini Bhattacharya and Aligarh Muslim University linguistics faculty A.R. Fatihi hosted the workshop and taught theories of translation to 35 participants.

“We are here to train people so that we can create a pool of good translators. The problem is that most textbooks across subjects except literature are available in English. But many students are more comfortable with their mother tongue and want textbooks in their own language. To make quality books accessible in regional languages has been our initiative. Translation can never be exact or perfect, but we’re training those who are interested to better the techniques,” said Bhattacharya.

The CIIL will give regular assignments to trained participants.

The NTM is a Government of India initiative to make knowledge-based texts accessible in all Indian languages listed in the VIIIth schedule of the Constitution through translation. Inspiration came from a statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who had emphasis how vital it was to have access to translated material in critical areas.

It aims to disseminate information on translation and develop tools such as dictionaries and thesauruses, short-term orientation programmes, accreditation, fellowships and research project grants for translators.