The Uttarakhand government has decided to make Sanskrit compulsory in all government and private schools from Class III to VIII.

The decision came on day Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday on Tuesday.

“Sanskrit is our ancient and the language of Gods. We must acknowledge that this language has enriched our culture beyond measure. Our generation should know the language,” State Education Minister Arvind Pandey said.

The state education department has been instructed by the minister to implement the decision in the schools.

The officials of the state education department said that guidelines will be in place soon to implement the Sanskrit curriculum. “The guidelines will also include penal measures in case private schools affiliated with several boards, such as ICSE and others, refuse to implement Sanskrit curriculum,” said R Meenakshi Sundaram, secretary education, Uttarakhand.

Commenting on the development, Shekhar Pathak, a Padam Shri awardee historian, said, “The propagation of our culture, including languages, is important but regional languages should also be promoted with the same zeal as national languages.”

An official from a school of international repute based in Dehradun, on the condition of anonymity, said, “We will implement the government directives but our policymakers should think seriously before making such unilateral decisions. Analysis should be done by educationists and state government about the motive and outcome of such a curriculum.”