Pune represents Indian culture and digitising rare books is the next step: Sitharaman

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday visited Pune to inaugurate ‘Bharat Vidya’ an online platform of courses started by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI)

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday visited Pune to inaugurate ‘Bharat Vidya’ an online platform of courses started by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI).

(From left) State education minister Chandrakant Patil, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and BJP Pune city chief Jagdish Mulik at Symbiosys Vishwa Bhavan on Wednesday. (Ravindra Joshi/HT PHOTO)

“The contribution by the institute (BORI) for Pune and the rest of the country is significant. This is a historic service which cannot be compared with any other research institute in the country. Pune is the flag bearer of Indian culture and today by digitising the data of rare books and manuscripts is the next step,” said Sitharaman.

Along with Sitharaman, state higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil was the chief guest for the function.

Sitharaman further said, “In 21st century you have shown that you can adapt new techniques of digitalisation along with study and research. As per the New Education Policy the approach needs to be multi-disciplinary and students should be encouraged to take such courses.Professionals who have a desire to learn about our Indian culture can take up these courses.”

Chandrakant Patil said, “As an education minister I would suggest to take the Indian culture and heritage to all those who would be interested in this research. We should also collaborate with Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) and make the BORI courses credit-based so that students will also benefit from it. I will personally speak with the SPPU vice-chancellor and start the new courses soon.”