Tech can bridge language divide: Smriti Irani

She hailed India’s multilingualism and said it was an asset and heritage and that this plurality must be appreciated. “Multilingualism in our nation extends back to several millenia. This multilingualism is an asset, a heritage we have inherited, and is, in fact, a resource we deeply cherish,” she said. Pointing out that the country had rich linguistic diversity with hundreds of mother tongues being spoken from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, the Union minister said technology will bridge the language divide not only in India but also across the world.

Switching over from Hindi to Tamil, the Union minister quoted famous Tamil poet and freedom fighter Subramanya Bharathi that despite learning 30 languages he loved his mother tongue Tamil. “He learnt over 30 languages because he appreciated all of them. Yet his mother tongue Tamil was the sweetest of all for him,” she added.

“Irrespective of the languages spoken or region one hails from, the common binding factor

was the deep need to ensure that India reaches new glories and resurges from times of difficulties and challenges to a great new future,” she said, adding that youth, especially girls, should carry along the merits of one’s mother tongue.

Earlier, Ms Irani released 1,008 story books printed in 22 Indian languages, including Tamil, by Central Institute of Indian Languages for the children’s book bank project. She also launched online teaching material for classical Tamil developed by the Central Institute of Classical Tamil, Chennai.