At a two-day workshop for Urdu authors at the Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), Hyderabad, academics and language specialists stressed the importance of upholding quality standards in the creation of textbooks for higher education in Urdu.

This call was made by Prof BJ Rao, Vice-Chancellor of the Hyderabad Central University (HCU), who was invited as the chief guest of the workshop.

He also advised authors to write books worthy of reading at the valedictory session, a press release from MANUU stated.

MANUU has been assigned the responsibility of producing Urdu higher education textbooks under the Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti (BBS). Commenting on this responsibility, Prof N Nagaraju, Vice-Chancellor of the English & Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad, termed MANUU’s efforts as exemplary.

“We need to establish a connection between all Indian languages so that brotherhood flourishes among us,” he added.

The session was presided over by Prof Syed Ainul Hasan, Vice-Chancellor of MANUU and Nodal Officer for BBS Urdu. He urged participants to take precautions to ensure quality while preparing textbooks and called for a “congenial environment for academic exchange”.

He further added that the Indian knowledge system represents “a blend of modernity and tradition”.

Earlier in the workshop, Prof Khalid Mubashir Zafar, Director of the Directorate of Translation, Translation Studies, Lexicography and Publication (DTTLP) and BBS Urdu Coordinator, presented a report on the workshop proceedings.

Prof Shugufta Shaheen, Professor and Head of the English Department, noted that MANUU was working to fill the gap in Urdu higher education after the discontinuation of Urdu-medium programmes at Osmania University.

In four technical sessions held during the workshop, experts discussed curriculum and outcome-based Urdu textbook development, instructional writing standards and authorial integrity, digital tools, AI and instructional writing technology, research transformation in instructional and reference books, and Urdu terminology and standardisation.