Hyderabad: Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani’s directions to IITs to teach Sanskrit might have evoked sharp criticism from Opposition parties, but experts and academicians see no disadvantage with it. In fact, studying ancient scriptures and Vedas will help engineering students develop their existing study and research area, they said.

IIT Delhi Director, Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, backed the idea, which he felt would be  beneficial to students, especially from electrical, mechanical, civil and  metallurgy courses.

“There is a lot of content relating to science in the ancient scriptures, for example Rig Veda. It also helps in better understanding of material science, one of the key subjects for various engineering courses. Engineering students do humanities courses, and Sanskrit offers a better proposition,” he said.

The IIT Director said students will get to know new and interesting things about scientific methods used several centuries ago. Dr V. Subramanyam, Deputy Director at Sanskrit Academy, Hyderabad stated that there are several Sanskrit books like “Dakargalam”, in which you will find science techniques used at that time.

“For example, this book says at how many feet from Medi Chettu one should dig the ground to get sweet ground water. Senior Scientist C.S.R Prabhu did extensive study and discovered unparalleled science in ancient Sanskrit. Veda Ganitham will help in  solving complex mathematical problems without the use of calculator,” Dr Subramanyam said.

Even management students will stand to gain by reading Bhagavad Gita because it will help them on how to deal better with colleagues and staff in office, the Sanskrit expert added.
Source: Deccan Chronicle 27/04/2016