Lucknow: BJP MP and national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi on Wednesday said higher education in Uttar Pradesh has seen a major turnaround in recent years, citing a sharp rise in the number of universities receiving high accreditation grades.Speaking as chief guest at the 11th convocation ceremony of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Language University (KMCLU), Trivedi said the state was earlier identified with premier institutions such as Lucknow University, Banaras Hindu University and Aligarh Muslim University, but later experienced a broader decline in academic standards.Trivedi, who said he hails from Lucknow and studied engineering in the city, pointed to National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) ratings as an indicator of improvement. He said Uttar Pradesh once had only one or two universities with NAAC grades, but the figure has now reached 17, with seven universities securing A, A+ or A++ ratings.He credited the progress to Governor Anandiben Patel, who also serves as chancellor of state universities, and said reforms and oversight contributed to better outcomes across institutions.Highlighting KMCLU’s role, Trivedi said it was appropriate for a language university to be located in Lucknow, a city known for its linguistic and cultural traditions. He also noted the university’s location in the Awadh region, associated with the Ramcharitmanas and the Awadhi language.Trivedi also spoke about India’s linguistic influence, saying several global languages have historical links to Sanskrit. He cited “Haftah” and “Aab” in Persian as related to Sanskrit words “Saptah” and “Ap”, and said Indonesia uses “Bahasa” from “Bhasha”. He added that the Indonesian Navy’s motto, “Jalesveva Jayamahe”, is in Sanskrit.
