Not a realistic request: Tharoor on making Sanskrit as official language

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday did not agree with National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) chairman Nand Kumar Sai over his request to make Sanskrit as an official language and stated that 'his advice is not realistic.'

"As far as the status of Sanskrit is concerned, it's a wonderful language, but it is not an easy language and of course it is not currently spoken by most of the people in the entire country... We are struggling to improve our educational system so that people can understand and read and write better," Tharoor told ANI here.

"I think it would be a bit of a stretch to suddenly turn Sanskrit into an official or a national language. It will take time. It was a decision that could have been made much earlier, but it's not an easy language... I am glad that people are trying to keep the language alive, but you cannot overnight turn it into a language of administration or judiciary. It's not a realistic request," he added.

Sai had on Thursday said that Sanskrit should be made the official language of the country and added that he will speak to the Human Resource and Development (HRD) Ministry regarding the same.

Speaking to ANI, Sai said, "Sanskrit is the oldest language and it has an impact on various other languages of our country. So I think Sanskrit can put an end to all controversies regarding the use of languages. It can be made the official language. I will speak to HRD Minister soon regarding the same."

"Students have stopped learning Sanskrit even though it is a very easy language," he added.

Sai's comments came in the wake of Centre dropping the provision of compulsory teaching of Hindi in the schools of non-Hindi speaking states due to protests in Tamil Nadu and other states of the country.