Bhubaneswar, Aug. 25: The Orissa government should make Sanskrit the second language in the state, members of the Utkal Sanskruta Shikshak Mahasangh demanded.
“Bihar has given second language status to Urdu, so why can’t Orissa do the same for Sanskrit?” said the president of the Mahasangh, Prafulla Kumar Sahoo.
At least 400 Sanskrit teachers, under the banner of Utkal Sanskruta Shikshak Mahasangh, put forth a list of demands including the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission.
“The Sixth Pay Commission has said that discrimination against Sanskrit teachers has been resolved, but where are the results? The indifferent and sluggish attitude of the bureaucracy has stripped us of the benefits,” said Sahoo.
He added that the teachers wanted their arrears to be cleared immediately. “We also demand two-tier promotion for all teachers. After completion of 20 years of teaching, teachers should get the first promotion and after 30 years they should be promoted again,” he said.
The Mahasangh also demanded pay scale and status for Sanskrit teachers at par with other government teachers.
“Sanskrit, said to be the mother of all languages, is facing negligence as the government has failed to encourage its propagation and preservation,” said the headmaster of Government Boys’ High School Unit-1, Sumanta Sahoo.
“There are about 3,000 Sanskrit teachers in the state and all of us are part of the same educational system, but we are being discriminated against,” said Jayanta Rath, a Sanskrit teacher from Khurda.
“Besides implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission, we want pension and provident fund facilities to be extended to us,” he said.
Experts in the field of Sanskrit said that the language had found recognition in several countries in the West, but in the place of its origin it was not being given enough importance.
“It’s a matter of shame and anguish that Sanskrit, despite its popularity in foreign countries such as Germany, England, the USA and even South Africa, it has not been accorded its due status in the country and the state.
“The headquarters of an International Association of Sanskrit Studies has already been set up in Vienna,” said Prof. Prafulla Kumar Mishra of the Utkal University.
