National Translation Mission

National Translation Mission (NTM) is a Government of India initiative to make knowledge texts accessible, in all 22 official languages of the Indian Republic listed in the VIII schedule of the Constitution, through translation. NTM was set up on the recommendation of the National Knowledge Commission. The Ministry of Human Resource Development has designated Central Institute of Indian Languages as the nodal organization for the operationalization of NTM.

English, the primary medium of higher education in India, remains inaccessible to even the literate majority of the country. Therefore, there is an urgent need to translate material in all fields like literary, technical, scientific and business etc. so that such material is accessible to a wide range of different language speaking population across the country. Translation, thus, is seen not just as an instrument of democratizing and secularizing knowledge, but also of empowering languages and speech communities.

NTM intends to establish translation as an industry in the country. Its main objectives include generation of translation tools such as dictionaries and thesauri; development of software for translation, memory, etc.; promotion of machine translation and machine aided translation; translator education through orientation programs & courses; fellowships & grants for research projects, etc. Bringing visibility to translators and translation activities by organizing book launches for translations; instituting prizes and fellowships; organizing Regional Festivals of Translation; book exhibitions, etc. also are part of the activities of NTM.

Project Advisory Committee (NTM-PAC) of NTM is the highest decision-making body of NTM. It is a committee of 25 members representing various sections of the academic community, ministerial bodies and publishing houses related to translation. NTM-PAC is supported by four sub-committees in matters related to copyrights and legal matters; selecting knowledge texts; fixing rates for translators, copy editors etc.; and Grant in Aid schemes of NTM.

NTM is in the process of establishing itself as the clearing house of all translation related activities in the country. Interaction with the public is a requisite and NTM has developed its website (www.ntm.org.in) in 22 scheduled languages as well as English for the purpose. NTM website introduces the Mission, its objectives, beneficiaries, and structure etc. Updates on list of books selected for translation, experts consulted, announcement of translation assignments etc. are available for the public here. The Discussion Forum facilitates the users to discuss various topics like the books selected for translation in a subject, an existing translation, and terminology issues in Indian languages etc.

105 titles have been approved for translations in 21 disciplines (Botany, Chemistry, Computer Science, Economics, History, Law, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Medical Science, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology and Zoology) so far.

To know more about the books taken up for translation, visit - www.ntm.org.in

NTM also maintains National Register of Translators(NRT) through its website. NRT is a databank wherein translators register themselves online. NRT is a searchable directory of translators, evaluators and discipline experts with classified information on profession, experience, languages known and expertise in translation, etc.