LUCKNOW: In an attempt to boost Sanskrit among the youth, the Yogi Adityanath government of Uttar Pradesh will offer a third session of free coaching to civil service aspirants who opt for Sanskrit language from November 1.

The move comes as part of the government’s efforts to promote Sanskrit. Candidates are being encouraged to make Sanskrit as their main subject in the civil services exam.

Within two years, candidates with Sanskrit language have gained positions in top 10 in the state civil service examinations. Of them, four were selected as civil servants. Nine others qualified for other competitive examinations.

According to the government spokesman, under the free coaching programme by the Uttar Pradesh Sanskrit Sansthan (UPSS), the preparation for civil services ranging from preliminary examination to interview is being done for candidates opting Sanskrit.

The entire session is of 10 months duration, where the training is done in three phases in which, grammar, philology, philosophy, Sanskrit theatrics, prose and poetry, among others will be taught by the experts.

Candidates of all age groups from 21 to 35 years who have completed their graduation or any equivalent examination from a UGC recognized university, are eligible.

The admission process for the programme will be done online and the date of filling the application form has been fixed from August 9 to September 5.

The entrance examination for the third session will be conducted by the end of September 2021 at various centres in the state capital. The results will be announced by the end of October.

The test will have 100 bi-lingual (Sanskrit and Hindi) questions. Of this, 85 questions will be from general studies and 15 from Sanskrit general knowledge, grammar and literature. Students can register at UPSS’s website.

Students, who have qualified the preliminary examinations of UPSC 2020-21, will be given direct admission. Under this, 15 students will be taken and given a scholarship of Rs 3,000 per month, provided they have 75 per cent attendance and good monthly progress reports.

UPSS president Vachaspati Mishra, said, “With an aim to generate employment by promoting Sanskrit language in Purvanchal, the government will also open new training centre in Gorakhpur on lines of the one located at UPSS Lucknow.”

Director, UPSS, Pawan Kumar said efforts are being made to promote Sanskrit adoption in the highest examinations of the country.