The government will soon establish five regional centres of the Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Ved Vidya Pratishthan with an aim to promote "Ved Vidya", Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told Parliament on Wednesday.
The regional centres will come up in the four Dhams -- Badrinath, Dwarka, Jagannath and Rameswaram -- and Guwahati, he said.
Responding to questions related to Vedic education by several members of the Upper House, Pradhan said the Vedas are the "basis foundation" of Indian knowledge and it is the priority of the government to take the Indian knowledge tradition to the next generation, connecting Ved Vidya with the modern, mainstream education system.
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"There was no formal system of Vedic education in the country earlier. The Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Ved Vidya Pratishthan was given recognition by the Board of Education under the visionary leadership of the prime minister. Ved Vidya and Sanskrit education should reach every section of society without any discrimination, it is the priority of this government," he said.
The board was set up in August 2022.
Pradhan informed Parliament that there are 123 pathshalas, having 4,600 students and 632 teachers, affiliated to the board.
Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar suggested that the minister make available a set of Vedas to MPs.
Responding to Dhankhar's suggestion, Pradhan said they will soon provide copies of the Vedas to all members of the Upper House.
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Replying to another question on the representation of SC, ST and OBC students in these schools, Pradhan said, "Currently we don't have reservation in the Vedic education system."
-With PTI Input
