of India. In the first meeting of the National Knowledge Commission (NKC), he said how vital access to translated material is for increasing access to knowledge in many critical areas and broadening and strengthening people’s participation in education and continuous learning. The Commission chaired by Sri Sam Pitroda took note of the suggestion and felt an immediate need to have a separate institution or mission to promote the cause of translation for education in India.
While it is true that translation is an ongoing process in India, the need for productive public intervention in this key area comes primarily from the unevenness in the translation activity in the country- unevenness in terms of disciplines as well as languages as also that of quality, distribution and access. Translation activities can also generate direct and indirect employment, thus encouraging the educated unemployed to serve the people while finding a remunerative profession for themselves.
It was this awareness that prompted the National Knowledge Commission to form a working group led by Dr. Jayati Ghosh that would bring together different agencies and people involved in the activity of translation, its publication and dissemination. The working group included representatives from the relevant government and semi-government organisations, academics, linguists, translators, educationists, publishers and others associated with the translation activities in India. As the groups began meeting in Delhi in February, 2006, the broad contours of the field were outlined by Prof. Udaya Narayana Singh, Director, Central Institute of Indian Languages.
On March 6, 2006 Prof. Jayati Ghosh, Member-Convenor, National Translation Mission Committee wrote to the Dy. Chairman, Planning Commission, forwarding the recommendations of the NKC and the revised proposal to the Commission. This was followed by several meetings of the working group and some detailed comments were received from several Social Science experts, especially from the Center for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), and other institutions such as Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR). These raised several issues and gave creative suggestions as to the scope and organisation of the National Translation Mission, some of which are being incorporated into this detailed project report. Subsequently, on September 1, 2006, Shri Sam Pitroda, Chairman, National Knowledge Commission wrote to the Prime Minister giving details of the National Translation Mission after which, a detailed proposal was formulated by the Ministry of HRD.