Uttarakhand government to make Sanskrit mandatory in all schools from class 3 to 8

The Uttarakhand government has decided to make Sanskrit language compulsory in all government and private schools from Classes 3 to 8. According to estimates, over 89% of the populace of the state speaks the four languages including Hindi (45%) followed by Garhwali (23.03%), Kumaoni (19.94%) and Jaunsari (1.35%). Interestingly, main regional languages Kumaon and Garhwali have been accorded the status of endangered languages by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).