New Delhi, Jan 16 (IANS): President Pranab Mukherjee will Friday felicitate scholars of Sanskrit, Pali/Prakrit, Arabic and Persian languages, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said Thursday.

According to an official statement, Mukherjee will "award certificates of honour to eminent scholars of Sanskrit, Pali/Prakrit, Arabic and Persian" along with "the Maharishi Badrayan Vyas Samman to young scholars for 2012 and 2013" at a function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

"The scheme for award of certificates was introduced in 1958 by the ministry of human resource development to honour the scholars of Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian languages. The scheme was extended to cover Pali/Prakrit in 1996," said the statement.

It added: "From 2008, an international award for a non-resident Indian or foreigner for their lifetime achievement in the field of Sanskrit was also included."

The Maharishi Badrayan Vyas Samman honours those between 30 and 40 years in all the four languages and was introduced from 2002.