Launched by APU Vice Chancellor Indu Prasad, the repository, https://anuvadasampada.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/ seeks to address the paucity of high-quality academic resources in Indian languages at the graduate and post-graduate level. It includes select academic resources for postgraduate programmes in education and development, and undergraduate programmes in arts, sciences, and diploma courses.

The university is also in the process of seeking copyright permissions from various publishers to expand the number of open access academic readings on the site.

There are select articles from journals, extracts or complete chapters from books, podcasts, short films, brief lectures, and panel discussions related to higher education.

The university claimed that it had obtained permissions to translate and digitise the texts from publishers, agencies or individuals for providing access as an open source document through the repository.

“The initiative will enable students, academics, and practitioners to use and reuse academic resources in sciences, social sciences, humanities, and languages. The repository is also expected to help promote original writing, reading, deliberation and discourse in Hindi and Kannada,” APU said in a statement.

“Non-availability of academic resources in Indian languages is a major constraint in expanding access to education and ensuring inclusion. We believe this initiative will help students engage more deeply with concepts and ideas that are currently available only in English, encourage nuanced debates, and develop perspectives in diverse contexts,” said Hriday Kant Dewan, who leads the initiative at Azim Premji University.

The university is also in the process of seeking copyright permissions from various publishers to expand the number of open access academic readings on the site.