CHENNAI: The Communist Party of India has strongly criticised the BJP-led union government for allegedly favouring Sanskrit while neglecting Tamil and other classical languages.
CPI state secretary R Mutharasan said the Centre has allocated Rs. 2,532.59 crore for the promotion of Sanskrit between 2014 and 2024, while spending only Rs 147.56 crore on Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Odia combined.
Of this, Tamil received just Rs 113.48 crore, 22 times less than what was spent on Sanskrit.
"This reflects the Centre's consistent bias against Tamil, driven by the BJP's cultural agenda," he said.
He also slammed the New Education Policy and the PM SHRI scheme for linking school funding to the inclusion of Hindi as a medium of instruction.
The CPI further accused the Centre of refusing to recognise Tamil civilisation's antiquity by transferring Keezhadi archaeologist Amarnath Ramakrishna and withholding adequate disaster relief funds to Tamil Nadu despite major losses. He also pointed to the Centre's reduction in MGNREGS allocations and person-days in the state, affecting rural livelihoods.