New Delhi, January 15, 2026: A five-day workshop on developing a ‘Learner’s Glossary of Social Sciences’ from English to Hindi, organized under the aegis of the Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT) of the Ministry of Education, Government of India, and in collaboration with the Department of Political Science, Jamia Millia Islamia (a Central University), concluded on January 14, 2026, with a valedictory session held at the university’s M.N. Meenai Seminar Room, Department of Political Science.
The valedictory address was delivered by the Honorable Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, Prof. Mazhar Asif, who is also Chairman of the Town Official Language Implementation Committee, Delhi Central-1 (Office), Department of Official Language, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, and also the chief patron of the collaboration between JMI and CSTT. Prof. Asif, emphasizing the need to break free from a colonial mindset, said, “A false sense of modernity has a toxic effect on the minds of people. We need to rectify this immediately by prioritizing the Indian Knowledge System (IKS)”. He appreciated the work of translation of political terminology into Hindi and other modern Indian languages and extended his best wishes to all those present at the workshop.
Speaking further on the subject of translation of the Social Sciences terminology into other Indian languages, Prof Asif said, “Merely translating scientific and technical terms may not be doing justice to the spirit of translation. Geography, history and culture has to be contextualized while undertaking and translating the terminologies into other Schedule Eight Languages or any other language”.
With his vivid experience in the field of being a professional translator and a prominent linguistics expert in Indian and Foreign languages, Prof Asif advised the team members of the committee to take care of the limitations of the authentic translation, be it any language spoken and written in India. Prof Asif appreciated the work done by the team of thirteen expert members which have undertaken the task of preparing a glossary of technical and scientific terms used in Social Sciences into Hindi.
The welcome address was given by Prof Naved Jamal, the Coordinator of the workshop. He emphasized the role of Gandhi’s notion of promoting Hindi/Hindustani and Bhartendu Harishchandra in the awakening of the spirit of national language. He also highlighted the role and contribution of Professor D.S. Kothari, an eminent physicist and educationist, who chaired the Committee of Scientific & Technical Terminology (CSTT) from 1960-1965.
Prof Bulbul Dhar-James, Head, Department of Political Science, introduced the theme of the workshop to the audience. Dr. Shahzad Ahmad Ansari, Assistant Director, gave a brief introduction on the Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT). Dean of Social Sciences, Prof Muslim Khan, addressed the gathering as an invited distinguished speaker. Dr. Saroj Kumar Das, in his address re-emphasized the notion of Bhartendu Harishchandra’s wherein he highlighted Niz Bhasha Unnati ( Development in its own language).
Prominent experts who participated in the workshop across India, included Prof. Veishna Narang (J.N.U.), Prof. Rajendra Kumar Panday, Principal, Deshbandhu College (DU), Prof. Praveen Kumar Jha, (DU), Prof. Naved Jamal, JMI, Dr. Saroj Kumar, Govt Meera Girls College, Udaipur, Dr. Akhashna Singh, Dept of Economics, ASRD College, (DU), Dr. Akhalakh Ahmad, Dept of Pol Sc, A.S.College, Bikramganj, Bihar, Dr. Rajani Bahadur Singh, TGT, Social Science, KHMS, Delhi, Himanshi Mainari, TGT, Social Science, KHMS, Delhi, Abdul Quddus Ansari, PGT Economics, Syed Abid Husain S S School, JMI, Dr. Nitish Kumar, (DU), Ms. Sony Kumari Thakur, (JMI), Mansoor Hasan Khan, TGT, (JMI School). The workshop was attended by all the faculty members of the department of Political Science and Dr. Rajesh Kumar, Hindi Adhikari, Jamia Millia Islamia.
The national workshop concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr. Shashi Kant, a faculty member of the Department of Political Science at Jamia Millia Islamia. He highlighted the inspiring message of women’s empowerment contained in the Vice-Chancellor’s address by quoting a couplet from the renowned poet Majaz Lakhnavi. “तेरे माथे पे यह आँचल बहुत खूब है लेकिन, तू इस आँचल से एक परचम बना लेती तो अच्छा था। (This veil on your forehead is beautiful, but it would have been even better if you had made a flag out of it.)
It is noteworthy that CSTT was established on October 1, 1960, by a Presidential Order, through a resolution of the Government of India (Ministry of Education), in accordance with the recommendations of the committee constituted under the provisions of Clause (4) of Article 344 of the Constitution of India. According to the 1960 resolution, the Commission’s work is to prepare standard scientific textbooks using the new terminology it has developed or approved, and to prepare scientific and technical dictionaries. The CSTT prepares glossaries under four categories: fundamental, comprehensive, definitional, and learner-oriented.
