The Union Government decided to establish an online repository known as IKS Wiki to give the general public access to information on subjects about traditional knowledge and culture in India. The government’s initiative will also involve students through an internship programme to contribute and engage with it.

“It will be an authentic library for Bharatiya Gyan Parampara, or Indian knowledge systems, which will be accessible to everyone in the world,” the report quoted Ganti S Murthy, national coordinator of the Indian Knowledge Systems division of the education ministry. 

“With that intent, the division has also launched an internship programme for students to contribute and be involved in the development of IKS Wiki,” he was quoted as having said.

In 2020, the ministry formed the IKS division as an innovation cell within the All India Council for Technical Education with the goal of advancing multidisciplinary research on many facets of indigenous knowledge.

The idea behind starting the IKS Wiki is to provide information in a simplified language that can be understood by the common people, the official said. It will carry articles in multiple Indian languages as well as in English, Murthy said.

Wikipedia, the world’s largest free online encyclopedia, has extensive entries on Indian civilisation, religion, philosophy, and culture. There are other such repositories as well, such as Bharatpedia, which is curated by a private foundation. IKS Wiki, however, would be the first such state-sponsored initiative.

In the internship program, students have the opportunity to contribute through artwork, encompassing pictures, sketches, and multimedia, such as cartoons and graphics, intended for use by the IKS community and wider readership. The division, as outlined in a document released earlier this week, emphasized that priority will be given to the depiction of "oral traditions of Bharat" in these artistic contributions.

“The IKS Internship programme is designed to encourage and enthuse youth to take up deeper study of various topics related to IKS, preferably in Bharatiya bhashas (Indian languages). IKS Wiki must be an important tool for it,” the document said.

“Therefore, the focus of this internship programme is to create opportunities for students to contribute and be involved in development of IKS Wiki during the summer breaks or anytime during the year.”

Each intern will be paid ₹1,000 per article upon their acceptance, it added.

According to the project guidelines, only subjects tied to the organized knowledge developed by Indians in the Indian subcontinent over centuries, transmitted through oral traditions, manuscripts, texts, and traditional practices, will be considered.

“Articles solely based on modern knowledge systems and modern scientific methods and analysis do not qualify as IKS projects,” an official at the division said, seeking anonymity.

The last date for the students to apply for the internship is December 25. The names of those selected will be announced on January 5.

Image source: PTI