Govt mulling setting up academy to promote Braj Bhasa: Sharma

The government is planning to set up an academy to promote Braj Bhasha, a dialect of Hindi which is spoken people primarily in Braj region including Mathura, Agra, Etah and Aligarh.
"India's identity lies in its culture and people from all over the work come here to experience the traditions of braj," Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said here during the launch of "Culture Mapping of India" programme.
He said that the academy - Braj Sahitya Academy - most likely will be set up in Mathura.
Braj Bhasha, also called Braj Bhasa, Braj Bhakha, or Brij Bhasa, language descended from Shauraseni Prakrit and commonly viewed as a western dialect of Hindi.

It is spoken by some 575,000 people, primarily in India. Its purest forms are spoken in the cities of Mathura, Agra, Etah, and Aligarh.
"Today, people of this country are showing the mirror to those who ruled over the country by dividing them between caste, religion, upper class and lower class that India is one and it is not divided in caste and religion," Sharma said, taking a dig at the Congress.
He also said that there was a need to preserve traditional dialects and that the government would take initiative in this regard.