Samrat hails proposed MoU between Mithila Sanskrit Research Institute, Oxford Sanskrit Text Society

Patna, Jul 7 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Tuesday welcomed the proposed institutional collaboration between the Mithila Sanskrit Research Institute in Darbhanga and the UK-based Oxford Sanskrit Text Society. He said that a proposal in this regard was received from Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kumar Jha. Oxford Sanskrit Text Society founder-president Prof Diwakar Acharya formally proposed institutional cooperation with the Darbhanga-based institute, an official release said. According to a statement issued by the CMO, the collaboration would facilitate the scientific cataloguing, digitisation, preservation and international research and publication of thousands of rare Sanskrit manuscripts housed at the institute. Choudhary described the MoU as a historic opportunity to showcase Bihar's cultural and intellectual heritage on the global stage. The initiative would strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Gyan Bharatam Mission in Bihar, and help establish the state as a global centre of India's knowledge traditions and cultural heritage, he said. “The then chief minister Nitish Kumar had announced the renovation and modernisation of the institute during his Pragati Yatra in January 2025. Subsequently, the state cabinet approved nearly Rs 57 crore in February 2025 for new buildings, campus development and manuscript conservation, with work currently underway,” Choudhary added. PTI SUK RBT