HYDERABAD, NOVEMBER 19, 2025:The Department of Materials Development, Testing and Evaluation at The English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad, with the support of the Bharatiya Bhasha Sangam, Ministry of Education, New Delhi, organized a One-Day Symposium on Bharatiya Bhasha Sangam: Exploring Indian languages in Professional Contexts on its campus today.
Inaugurating the symposium, Vice Chancellor Prof. N. Nagaraju urged educators to actively promote multilingualism by introducing diverse teaching programs in educational institutions across India. He emphasised the need for teachers to continuously update their pedagogical practices to align with evolving models of bi/multilingualism.
The keynote speaker M K Mishra, underscored the importance of multiple dimensions of language in education, including the language of literacy, language of thought, local language, language of the child, and language of the teacher. He emphasised that teachers must actively engage with children’s experiential learning and preserve cultural methods such as storytelling. He noted that multilingual education, in its true spirit, is yet to be fully realised in Indian classrooms, and that the guiding principle should be “From mother tongue to other tongue.”
The symposium featured diverse perspectives from distinguished speakers. Prof. Ajit Mohanty delivered a talk on Multilingual Pedagogy: Unity through Diverse Learning Pathways. He highlighted that the National Education Policy (NEP) places a strong emphasis on both mother tongue and multilingual education. Prof. Mohanty critiqued Western models of bilingual education as unsuitable for the Indian context, noting that traditional approaches often overlook childrens’ multilingual ethos. He advocated for classroom multilingualism as a valuable pedagogic resource, arguing that the “mother tongue as a bridge” metaphor is inadequate. Prof. Mohanty stressed that societal multilingualism enriches children’s cognitive and academic proficiency.
Prof. M. Sridhar, Former Faculty, Department of English, University of Hyderabad, spoke on Translation across Languages. Drawing from his experience as a translator, he emphasised the importance of representing marginalised groups and women. Recalling Nehru’s phrase “Unity in Diversity”, he suggested that translation should be treated as an industry to build an inclusive society. He cautioned that privileging only a few languages leads to linguistic and cultural deprivation, which excludes the majority of India’s linguistic communities.
Anoop Kunchukuttan, Principal Applied Researcher at Microsoft and Co‑founder of AI4Bharat, addressed the theme Indian Languages in the Digital Age. He explained how AI systems learn from data and discussed the potential of artificial general intelligence. He highlighted the role of initiatives such as AI4Bharat in advancing Indian languages through language technology, AI, and natural language processing (NLP).
The two sessions in the afternoon featured a talk titled The Multilingual Newsroom: Journalism, Digital Platforms, and Linguistic Diversity by Mr. Ravi Reddy Resident Editor, The Hindu. The last session by Mr. Vaasu. S Gavarasana, CEO, Redmatter Integrated Marketing Hyderabad featured an interesting perspective on the link between advertising and cultural diversity.
A cultural performance by students highlighted the cultural and linguistic diversity of the country. The symposium was attended by Prof. Hari Prasad, Registrar (I/c), faculty members from the Department, senior professors from across the university, and a large number of students.
Prof. Revathi Srinivas, Head of the Department of Materials Development, Testing and Evaluation, welcomed the guests and participants, setting the stage for a day of rich discussions on multilingualism, pedagogy, translation, and technology.
