The Ministry of Education and the University Grants Commission (UGC) launched a project on Tuesday to develop 22,000 books in Indian languages in the next five years.

The project, titled ASMITA (Augmenting Study Materials in Indian Languages through Translation and Academic Writing), was launched by Sanjay Murthy, Secretary, Higher Education. It is a collaborative effort of the UGC and the Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti, a high-powered committee under the ministry, to promote Indian languages in education.

"Launch of three landmark initiatives -- ASMITA, Bahubhasha Shabdkosh and Real-time Translation Architecture, will give momentum to imparting learning in Bharatiya Bhashas, empowering learners in their academic pursuits and preserving and promoting India's language traditions," Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan wrote on X.

"These initiatives in line with the NEP will help create a comprehensive pool of academic resources in 22 scheduled languages, bridge linguistic divide, foster social cohesion and unity and also transform our youth into socially-responsible global citizens," he added.

According to UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar, the project aims at creating a robust ecosystem for translation and original book writing in Indian languages across various disciplines within higher education.

"The goal is to produce 1,000 books in 22 languages within five years, resulting in 22,000 books in Bharatiya bhasha," Kumar said.

Thirteen nodal universities have been identified to lead the project, along with member universities from various regions.

"The UGC has also created a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the book-writing process in each assigned language. The SOP includes the identification of nodal officers, authors, allocation of title, subject and programme, writing and editing, submission of the manuscript, review and plagiarism check, finalisation, designing, proof-reading and e-publication," Kumar said.

The ministry also launched the "Bahubhasha Shabdakosh", a single-point reference for all the words in all Indian languages and their meanings.

"This initiative will be developed by the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) in collaboration with the Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti. This Shabdakosh will help in using Bharatiya words, phrases and sentences for various new-age domains like IT, industry, research, education," the UGC said in a statement.

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