NEP Row in J&K as LG Sinha Moves Proposal to Make Sanskrit ‘Mandatory’ in Schools

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference has accused the lieutenant governor (LG) Manoj Sinha of interfering in the government functioning a day after the Sinha’s administration admitted to have moved a proposal to make Sanskrit education mandatory in schools of Jammu and Kashmir.

The proposal to teach Sanskrit in schools across the country is at the heart of the Hindutva ideology and the latest development took place days after the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) struck down Urdu language as a qualifying criteria for the posts of Naib Tehsildar (NT) in the union territory following protests by saffron groups.

In a statement, the school education department (SED) said on Saturday, July 19, that LG Sinha had “received a representation from Shri Purshotam Lal Dube (NGO)” that Sanskrit should be taught in all schools and colleges of Jammu and Kashmir “under the provisions of NEP (National Educational Policy), 2020”.

“The said communication was forwarded to Higher/ School Education department (that)… forwarded the communication… to Director School Education Jammu /Kashmir for furnishing of comments in the matter. Subsequently, he communication was forwarded to the sub-offices for comments,” the statement said.

Dube is chairman of Samskrita Bharati Jammu Kashmir Trust which works for the “promotion of the Sanskrit language” in the union territory. In a 10-page letter to the Raj Bhawan in 2023, Dube had said: “By teaching Sanskrit as a compulsory and not as an optional subject in Jammu and Kashmir, where Sanskrit has played an important role since ancient times, it will connect everyone to their past.”

Even though the NEP 2020, which replaced the educational policy of 1968 after five years of deliberations, lauds Sanskrit and advocates for its inclusion as one of the options for the three-language formula in schools, it does not make the inclusion of Sanskrit mandatory.

According to official documents, the SED has directed the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) Kashmir (Edu/327/2023-01{7/724278} on May 26 of 2025) to gather details for “initiating the implementation of Sanskrit as a mandatory subject for classes 6th to 10th and an optional subject for classes 3rd to 5th across schools in Kashmir”.

SCERT is a government body which designs syllabus and manages other academic affairs of educational institutions in the union territory. 

While the NEP has made it clear that no language will be imposed on any state or union territory, the administration seems to have moved to make an exception by setting the ball rolling for introduction of Sanskrit in J&K’s schools. 

The administration has sought details from the SED about the teachers qualified to teach Sanskrit (with Shastri degree or equivalent) in Kashmir, those willing to undergo Sanskrit training, existing vacancies for Sanskrit teachers in schools, availability of classrooms or “dedicated spaces” for Sanskrit education and others.

Official documents show that the administration has also asked for “details about training or resource needs to support Sanskrit education… feedback from schools on integrating Sanskrit as a mandatory optional (sic) subject,… challenges faced in introducing or sustaining Sanskrit education” and others from the SCERT Kashmir. 

Speaking to The Wire, NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said that the SED statement was an admission of guilt by the LG administration which has continued to interfere with the functioning of the elected government. 

“Sinha often says that he doesn’t exceed his boundaries but the (SED) statement has shown that these claims are based on falsehoods and deception. From interfering in the administrative matters to misleading the public, his actions are there for everyone to see,” Dar said, while demanding rollback of the order on Sanskrit. 

Meanwhile, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Waheed Para accused the ruling party of having a “tactical understanding” with the Bhartiya Janta Party-led Union government on the issue.

“The BJP is out of power in J&K but it seems that the NC government led by (chief minister) Omar Abdullah has arrived at a tactical understanding with the party or perhaps his silence comes easier when one has mastered the art of running the government on autopilot mode,” Para, who represents Pulwama in J&K assembly, said.

In the past, Sinha has also advocated for “strengthening and promotion of Sanskrit as people's language” in Jammu and Kashmir, claiming that it “offers a treasure of knowledge in science, medicine and literature”. 

At the 'Ved Sanskrit Gyan Gaurav Samarambh' event organised by Shree Bhagwan Yagyavalkya Vedtatvagyan Yogashram Trust in Mudeti village in Sabarkantha in April 2023, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat said that India needed to “nurture the knowledge of the Vedas and the ancient language of Sanskrit to become a 'vishwa guru’.”

The SED statement added that “the inclusion of new subjects will be officially communicated through proper channels after due deliberation”.

The three-language formula for school education in the country has been marred by the absence of local speakers and lack of teachers in some states, while the new education policy encourages promotion of bilingualism (English with mother tongue) in schools. 

The NEP 2020 advocates the use of home language or mother tongue or local language or regional language as the medium of instruction for students in all schools until at least Grade 5 but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, too.

The NEP committee, led by former Indian Space Research Organisation chairman K. Kasturirangan, had argued that young children learn concepts more quickly in their home language or mother tongue.

“Research clearly shows that children pick up languages extremely quickly between the ages of two and eight and that multilingualism has great cognitive benefits to young students, children will be exposed to different languages early on (but with a particular emphasis on the mother tongue), starting from the Foundational Stage onwards,” the policy states.

The fresh row in Jammu and Kashmir broke out days after BJP legislators and party workers staged a protest outside the civil secretariat and J&K assembly on July 14 demanding the revocation of a state government order which made Urdu mandatory for NT aspirants in Jammu and Kashmir.

Days later, the CAT directed the J&K Services Selection Recruitment Board to entertain applications from the NT aspirants who had graduation certificates with knowledge of any of the five official languages – English, Kashmiri, Urdu, Hindi and Dogri.

The CAT order had also prompted the PDP president Mehbooba Mufti to allege that Urdu was being “unfairly communalised” in Jammu and Kashmir. “It is deeply unfortunate that our judiciary appears to be influenced by divisive politics,” she had said in a post on X.

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