AICTE launches 'VAANI' scheme to promote Indian languages; 12 emerging fields included

NEW DELHI: The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has launched a new scheme 'Vibrant Advocacy for Advancement and Nurturing of Indian Languages' (VAANI) to promote Indian languages among faculty members and students.

The 'VAANI' scheme will provide financial assistance to AICTE approved Institutions for conducting conferences, seminars and workshops. This assistance will be provided for 2-3 days in emerging fields of technical education in 12 regional languages.

Launching the scheme, AICTE Chairman TG Sitharam said, “AICTE -VAANI scheme will help in creating knowledge base in local language and will encourage creation of a treasure of latest technical knowledge incorporating the newest developments in regional languages”.

100 conferences to be supported financially

Under the scheme, around 100 conferences will be supported annually with Rs 2 lakh per conference. These conferences will include eight conferences per regional language (Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi, Bengali, Kannada, Assamese, Malayalam, Odia and Urdu), 12 conferences in Hindi language. The council will reimburse Rs 2 crore annually under the AICTE-VAANI scheme.

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The 12 emerging fields are ‘Advanced Materials, Rare earth and critical minerals, Semiconductor, Space and Defense, Blue Economy, Energy, Sustainability & Climate Change, Advanced Computing (Supercomputing, AI, Quantum Computing), Next Gen Communications, Smart Cities & Mobility, Aggrotech & Food processing, Health Care & Med-Tech, Disaster Management & Resilient Infrastructure and Manufacturing & Industry 4.0.

Research papers in the regional languages

The scheme will also promote promotion of the research papers in the regional languages and will enhance the collaboration between Institutions and Industry.

The applications for AICTE approved institutions are open till April 10, 2024. The institutions will be shortlisted on the basis of parameters designed by AICTE. Upon selection, AICTE will provide approval to the institutions for conducting the seminars and conferences.