For the sake of knowledge
SHANKAR BENNUR
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National Translation Mission needs a large number of experts to reach out to students from the marginalised sections
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It is boom time for the translation industry. The country’s biggest translation exercise — National Translation Mission (NTM) — has opened umpteen opportunities for translators.
The Mysore-based Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) has been identified as the nodal agency for the Union Government-funded project to coordinate with a host of leading institutions and reputed publishers to accomplish the task of making available translated texts from diverse disciplines to the seekers of knowledge from the marginalised sections of society.
With an aim to develop a quality translation industry, the CIIL, which was established by the Union Government to coordinate the development of Indian languages, has proposed to enhance the ‘National Register for Translators’ that was floated on its “Anukriti” website, and done earlier in print form by the Sahitya Akademi.
At least 8,000 translators, 2,000 evaluators and an equal number of copy editors will be required to launch the Mission, which also creates opportunities for people to work from home.
Along with that, a number of translators’ associations as well as the pool of translators from the private publishing houses will be engaged to realise the Mission’s objectives.
The institute is creating awareness through various media in 22 languages so that a large number of translators could respond and a network of translators/editors/copy editors is developed. It is estimated that the NTM will require experts in 63 disciplines and 22 languages.
Good response
Already, the Mission has generated a lot of interest among the people and the response in the last few months has been overwhelming. People from all walks of life have been expressing their willingness to associate themselves with the Mission’s activities.
The Union Government had released Rs. 99 crore under the 11th Plan for carrying out major activities under NTM, including promotion and dissemination of good quality translation of knowledge-based texts into all Eighth Schedule languages and generation of high quality translation tools such as dictionaries and software.
The other activities under NTM include translator education; information dissemination; development of scientific and technical terminology in all 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule; and promotion of machine translation and machine-aided translation.
According to CIIL, it is estimated that during 2009-10, 440 book translation assignments (each book having 250 pages on average) will be offered. Assuming that the submission rate is 68 per cent to 70 per cent, about 300 texts will be submitted as work completed by the translators in the first year.
Target
In this Plan period, there are plans to complete translation of 2,500 books. “Our target is 8,800 books by the next Five Year Plan,” says CIIL Director Udaya Narayan Singh.
“There is a range of target beneficiaries for the Mission, but the first and the foremost are the students from the margins of society who owing to their rural, caste or class status have little access to knowledge available mostly in English, technical and scientific in nature. The Mission will attain its true objective only if and when the translated texts from diverse disciplines reach these marginalised seekers of knowledge,” he explains.
Translated material is vital for accessing knowledge in many critical areas and broadening and strengthening people’s participation in education and continuous learning.
The NTM will concentrate on facilitating research and teaching of different disciplines in colleges and universities, which would like to use both printed and online texts and reference materials in all languages in the Eighth Schedule.
To accomplish the mammoth exercise, the States; Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology; National Council for Educational Research and Training; National Book Trust; University Grants Commission; Sahitya Akademi; Granth Akademies; and public library networks are being involved.
Dr. Singh said the role of States, which have done their bit of translation works like in the case of Kannada Translation Academy in Karnataka, is crucial since they shall help the institute in deciding the priority areas. “Several institutions and publications had been roped in as the scale of the project is huge and the CIIL alone will not be able to complete it.”
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