New Delhi: The Centre today (Sep 17, 2004) decided to declare Tamil a "classical language", the first to be recognised so in the country.

The Union Cabinet, which met this morning, decided to create a new category of "classical languages" and put Tamil in this category.

Information and Broadcasting Minister S Jaipal Reddy told reporters after the Cabinet meeting that the Government would consider putting Sanskrit and other languages in this category depending on their "heritage and legacy."

An Expert Committee of Sahitya Akademi, which had been set up to look into it, has suggested strict criteria for declaration of languages as classical languages, he said.

The declaration would be made through Government notification and there was no need for any change in law, Reddy explained.

The Committee applied the norms fixed by it with regard to Tamil and found it fit to be declared as a classical language, Reddy said adding that this was fulfilment of one of the promises made in the National Common Minimum Programme of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Future demand for categorisation of languages as classical would be considered by a Committee of Linguistic Experts in accordance with the criteria, he said, rejecting a suggestion that the decision was taken with a political motive.

The Government has laid down a four-point criterion for inclusion of languages as classical languages, which include high antiquity of its early texts and recorded history of at least a thousand years.

The other points included are that the language should have a body of ancient literature or texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers.

Its literary tradition must be original and not borrowed from another speech community and lastly the classical language and literature should be distinct from modern.

There may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots like Latin Vs Roman, Sanskrit-Pali Vs Prakrits and Modern Indo-Aryan.

To a question as to what would be the benefits to the language declared classical, Reddy said that two major international awards would be given annually to scholars of eminence in classical Indian languages.

A centre of excellence for studies in classical languages would be set up and the University Grants Commission would be requested to establish a number of Professorial Chairs for Classical Languages for scholars of eminence, he added.