Rajnath Singh calls for compulsory Vedic maths and Sanskrit in UP schools

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh used a religious gathering in Ayodhya on Monday, October 5, 2026, to argue that Sanskrit and Vedic mathematics deserve a firm place in school education. Speaking at the concluding programme of the Guru Parv festival at the Udaseen Ashram in Ranopali, he called Sanskrit a scientific language and said he would ask Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to make Vedic mathematics compulsory for children if Adityanath returns to power. During the visit he also saw the new building of the Shri Narayan Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya, a Sanskrit college at the ashram.

The speech is a reminder that the place of Sanskrit and traditional mathematics in classrooms is still an open political question, not a settled one. Singh, a former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and education minister, framed it as a matter of continuity. "When I was the Education Minister, I had made a Sanskrit question paper compulsory. However, subsequent governments removed it, which is something that still pains me," he said, according to the ANI news agency. He also admitted a personal limit: "Although I do not have much knowledge of Sanskrit, I have a deep affinity for the language."

His central argument was about balance rather than replacement. "We need students who understand Sanskrit shlokas as well as computer code," he said, as reported by PTI. He added that heritage survives better when its knowledge is passed on and understood than when it is learned by rote. That position fits the National Education Policy 2020, which asks universities and schools to bring Indian Knowledge Systems into teaching, and the University Grants Commission's push for students to earn a share of their credits in such courses.

The term Vedic mathematics needs care. As commonly taught, it refers to a set of mental-calculation methods published in a 1965 book of that name. Mathematicians such as S. G. Dani have described the book mainly as a collection of tricks useful for school arithmetic and algebra, and have disputed claims that it records advanced mathematics from the Vedas. Supporters value it for speed and confidence in calculation; critics warn against presenting it as ancient science. Both views matter for any state deciding whether to make it compulsory.

The idea is not new to the education system. The Centre told Parliament in July 2025 that seven universities, among them the University of Delhi, Banaras Hindu University and Central Sanskrit University, had introduced Vedic mathematics courses, and that teacher training was being run in several states under the Samagra Shiksha scheme. Singh's call would go further, making it a requirement for every child in India's most populous state.

Short-term: No policy has changed. The remarks are a political signal ahead of Uttar Pradesh's next Assembly election and are likely to feed debate among teachers, parents and Sanskrit institutions.

Long-term: If a future Uttar Pradesh government acts on the idea, it would need new syllabi, textbooks and trained teachers, and would have to decide whether Vedic mathematics is taught as a calculation skill or as history of science.

Who is affected: School students and teachers in Uttar Pradesh, Sanskrit colleges and pathshalas, curriculum bodies, and families weighing how much time children spend on traditional and modern subjects.

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