Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday, 28 June 2026 shared a quote from Prime Minister Narendra Modi praising the Central Sanskrit University, Delhi for launching B.Tech programmes in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, calling it a visionary step that bridges India's ancient knowledge tradition with modern technology.

Context

The post, shared during the broadcast of Mann Ki Baat, quoted PM Modi as saying the initiative will 'strengthen the confluence of India's ancient knowledge tradition and new technology.' The CM amplified the Prime Minister's remarks, underscoring the significance of a Sanskrit institution venturing into cutting-edge technical disciplines.

The Central Sanskrit University — a central university under the Ministry of Education — has historically focused on classical studies, Vedic literature, and Indian philosophy. The introduction of B.Tech streams in AI and Data Science marks a significant pivot for the institution.

Policy Backdrop

The move aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which explicitly encourages multidisciplinary education and integration of classical Indian knowledge systems with contemporary science and technology. The government has in recent years pushed for technology-enabled preservation of ancient manuscripts under initiatives such as the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM).

PM Modi's quote, as shared by CM Gupta, specifically highlighted two outcomes: developing 'new AI solutions for Indian languages' and giving 'a new direction to the preservation of ancient texts and manuscripts.' Both goals sit at the intersection of computational linguistics, cultural heritage, and applied AI — a domain gaining traction in Indian academic and policy circles.

Stakeholders and Impact

Students enrolling in these B.Tech programmes at the Central Sanskrit University would receive a rare dual grounding — classical Indian linguistic and philosophical training alongside engineering-grade technical education. Scholars and archivists working on digitisation of Sanskrit manuscripts stand to benefit from graduates trained specifically at this intersection.

The initiative also carries implications for the broader Indian-language AI ecosystem. Sanskrit's highly structured grammatical framework — codified by the ancient grammarian Panini — has long attracted computational linguists, and a dedicated technical faculty at a Sanskrit university could accelerate research in natural language processing for classical and modern Indian languages alike.

What's Next

The Central Sanskrit University is expected to operationalise the B.Tech curriculum in the coming academic cycle, though specific intake numbers and faculty appointments have not yet been publicly detailed. CM Gupta's amplification of the announcement signals political support from the BJP-led Delhi government for the Union government's push to modernise classical institutions without abandoning their foundational character.

If the model succeeds, it could serve as a template for other central universities rooted in classical disciplines to introduce applied technology programmes — deepening the NEP 2020 vision of a knowledge economy that draws equally from India's past and its technological future.