M. Jagadesh Kumar, the chairman, met with representatives of foreign publishers to discuss a partnership to translate undergraduate course materials and provide them in inexpensive digital format. A deadline of 6 to 12 months has been set by the University Grants Commission for the publication of textbooks in Indian languages for undergraduate courses.
Wiley India, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, Cambridge University Press India, Cengage India, and McGraw-Hill India representatives attended an online meeting convened by UGC Chairperson M. Jagadesh Kumar.
“We have formed an apex committee to prepare a road map to work towards bringing out textbooks in Indian languages used in undergraduate programmes such as B.A., B.Com, and B.Sc. We intend to translate many textbooks into Indian languages in six to twelve months. Subsequently, we will also cover postgraduate programmes. The publishers’ representatives have expressed their willingness to partner in this national mission,” Professor Kumar told The Hindu.
Course Books in Several Languages
The course books will be translated into Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Odiya, Bengali, Assamese, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu, among other languages.
The University Grants Commission has informed publishers that it would like to encourage Indian authors and academicians to write textbooks in regional languages. It has also suggested that a model be jointly developed to provide textbooks in digital format at affordable prices.
The UGC has also offered to assist publishers in the identification of textbooks, translation tools, and editing experts.
270 First-year Engineering Textbooks in 12 Regional Languages
The All India Council of Technical Education has already published 270 first-year engineering textbooks in 12 regional languages, and in October, Home Minister Amit Shah launched the first set of first-year M.B.B.S. books in Hindi in Madhya Pradesh. The Bar Council of India has also formed a panel headed by former Chief Justice of India S. A.
Bobde to translate legal books into regional languages at the request of the UGC.
