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Shridhar Dixit appointed chairman of Marathi encyclopedia committee
Shridhar (Raja) Dixit took charge as the seventh chairman of the Maharashtra Rajya Marathi Vishwakhosh (Encyclopedia) committee which many believe is a positive step to gain momentum and move forward
Shridhar (Raja) Dixit took charge as the seventh chairman of the Maharashtra Rajya Marathi Vishwakhosh (Encyclopedia) committee which many believe is a positive step to gain momentum and move forward.
Dixit brings in a dearth of experience and is currently serving as an emeritus professor of the department of History, Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU).
“I have been associated with the Vishwakosh for some years now and 20 volumes are completed so far as per the plan when it was launched by the former chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan. The work began under stalwart Tarktirth Lakshmanshastri Joshi followed by MP Rege and RG Jadhav for whom I have great respect, now it presents me with a great responsibility to develop and nurture the Vishwakosh,” said Dixit.
“This work on the Vishwakosh might have reached its volumes but there is no full stop, it is a continuous process, for we are presently living in a world of knowledge explosion, globalisation and communication explosion,” added Dixit.
According to Dixit, in the present-day context, there are many socially deprived groups and hence it is necessary to have democratization of knowledge, and encyclopedia or Vishwakosh is one of the means.
“This acceleration of the process is socially relevant and strong academic work which needs to be highlighted,” he added.
He also stressed upon the importance of language and the unity in diversity of the many languages spoken in the country, which leads to enhancement of any language, by strengthening the power of language and adding to the vocabulary and terminology using English language and coining new terms in Marathi.
Dixit believes in using technology for making the encyclopedia easily accessible and that is a major challenge that he has accepted as the chairman.
Hemant Rajopadhye, member of the Marathi Vishwakosh committee said, “His academic background when he revived editor, Navbharat (intellectual journal), PrajnaPathashala, and his skills, experience and networking will certainly help the project and take it further.”
Besides Dixit as the chairman for the Vishwakosh, he has 31 members to help him in his project.
Sadanand More, was also appointed as the chairman of the state board of literature and culture which will help in the proposal to restructure the Maharashtra state board of literature and culture and also help in clearing the backlog of new works which was stuck due to Covid-19.
