Centre expands Tamil outreach with Kashi Tamil Sangamam 4.0 | India News – The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Even as the Centre and the DMK-led Tamil Nadu govt continue to spar over education-related issues, the fourth edition of Kashi Tamil Sangamam (KTS) marks a significant expansion of the Union govt’s Tamil language outreach with two major initiatives – sending 300 college students from Varanasi to Tamil Nadu for immersive Tamil learning and bringing 50 Tamil teachers to Varanasi schools to teach spoken Tamil. Officials maintain that the push remains culturally anchored and aimed at strengthening India’s linguistic traditions.

KTS 4.0 will open at NaMo Ghat on Dec 2, coinciding with Karthigai Deepam on Dec 4. More than 1,500 delegates from Tamil Nadu will participate in an eight-day programme featuring knowledge-sharing sessions, cultural events and heritage visits to Kashi Vishwanath temple, BHU, Sarnath, Hanuman Ghat and Ayodhya temple. The theme – “Let Us Learn Tamil or Tamil Karkalam” – reinforces the idea of Indian languages as part of a shared civilisational fabric.What makes this year’s edition notable is the Centre’s scaling-up of Tamil-learning programmes at a time when its relationship with Tamil Nadu govt remains strained over NEET, the three-language policy and centralisation of education regulation. Officials say the reciprocal model – Tamil teachers in Uttar Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh students in Tamil Nadu – is intended to deepen “people-to-people connections.” Under the Tamil Karkalam campaign, 50 teachers from Tamil Nadu will begin spoken Tamil classes across 50 Varanasi schools from Dec 2 to Dec 15, reaching 1,500 students.The inaugural batches arrive on Dec 1.In return, 300 college students from Varanasi will travel in 10 batches to Tamil Nadu between Dec 17 and Dec 30. After an orientation at Central Institute of Classical Tamil in Chennai, they will be placed across nine host institutions, including IIT Madras, Central University of Pondicherry, Gandhigram Rural Institute and Sastra University.A senior official with the ministry of education said the dual initiatives would “take Tamil learning beyond symbolic engagement to structured classroom exposure.”“KTS 4.0 celebrates India’s knowledge traditions by making language a living bridge,” said the official, adding, “When Tamil teachers teach in Kashi and students from Varanasi learn Tamil in its native soil, we are renewing the shared heritage and ancient currents that have linked the two regions for centuries.”The Sage Agastya Vehicle Expedition (SAVE) – tracing ancient Tamil-Kashi linkages from Tenkasi to Varanasi – will also be launched on Dec 2, highlighting civilisational ties shaped by the Chera, Chola, Pandya, Pallava and Chalukya dynasties. It will conclude in Varanasi on Dec 12. Four allied events under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat will run alongside the Sangamam.