- This day is observed to celebrate and recognise the linguistic diversity of India, with a focus on the Hindi language’s significance in India’s identity.
Background:
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister(PM) of Independent India proclaimed the 14th September of every year as the Hindi Diwas to commemorate the adoption of Hindi as official langaugae of India on 14th September 1949.
- The first ever Hindi Diwas was observed on 14th September 1953.
Significance of 14th September:
i.On 14th September 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted Hindi as the official language of India.
ii.The date, also marks the birth anniversary of Beohar Rajendra Simha(14th September 1900), an acclaimed Indian scholar, historian, theologian, littérateur, polyglot and Hindi-stalwart.
- He played a major role in making Hindi as the official language of India. He is also known for the illustrations in the original final manuscript of the Constitution of India.
Official language of India:
i.Indian Parliament passed the Official Language Act, 1963. According to that English is the other language that holds associated official status in addition to Hindi.
- English is extensively used for official and administrative purposes.
ii.The Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution lists 22 official languages of the Republic of India (Hindi is one among them).
iii.Further, Article 351 of the Constitution addresses the ‘Directive for the Development of the Hindi Language.’
- It shall be the Union’s duty to promote the spread of the Hindi language and to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all elements of India’s composite culture.
Key Points:
i.The Government of India (GoI) is making all efforts to promote the use of Hindi in politics and diplomacy and raise the stature of the language globally.
ii.In 2018, the GoI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations (UN) to increase the volume and frequency of Hindi content produced by the UN to serve Hindi language audiences around the world.
- The UN, later also launched Hindi versions of its social media content on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
iii.Most government websites are bilingual now, Hindi and English. However, the websites of organisations such as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF), and even the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) are open in Hindi by default.
Parliamentary Committee on Official Language:
i.In 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) requested the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to provide a list of government institutions located in foreign countries.
ii.The Parliamentary Committee on Official Language was constituted to periodically review the work done in the official language.
iii.Its primary responsibility is to assess the progress of Hindi language adoption in government operations nationwide. The committee compiles a report and presents it to the President.
- The 12th volume of this report has been presented to the President. Only 9 of the report volumes were submitted up to 2014, while 3 have been submitted in the last 4 years.
Awards Schemes for Hindi:
i.The Department of Official Language under the MHA introduced an award scheme named ‘Rajbhasha Gaurav Puraskar Scheme‘, to encourage writing books originally in Hindi and to promote the official language.
ii.The Department of Language also introduced the award scheme ‘Rajbhasha Kirti Piraskar‘, to encourage the implementation of the official language.
- These awards were conferred at the Hindi Diwas on 14th September annually to the Ministries/Departments, Public Sector Units (PSUs), Nationalised Banks, Boards/Autonomous Bodies/Trusts, etc., and in-house Hindi Magazine.
Key Highlights:
i.Since 2019, Hindi Advisory Committees have been established in all 59 ministries. These committees convene regular meetings to promote the use of the official language in government affairs.
ii.A total of 528 Town Official Language Implementation Committees (TOLICs) have been formed to enhance the use of the official language in various regions across India.
- India has extended its efforts globally, with TOLICs established in London, Singapore, Fiji, Dubai, and Port-Louis.
iii.Department of Official Language has initiated the ‘All India Official Language Conference.’ The inaugural conference took place in Banaras, Uttar Pradesh on November 13-14, 2021. The 2nd conference was held in Surat, Gujarat on September 14, 2022.
- In 2023, the 3rd conference is scheduled to be held in Pune, Maharashtra.
New Initiatives of the Department of Official Language:
i.To align the official language with technology, the Department introduced the ‘Kanthastha‘ memory-based translation system.
ii.The innovative ‘Hindi Shabd Sindhu‘ dictionary by the Department continuously expands, encompassing words from Indian languages in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.
iii.The ‘e-Mahashabdkosh‘ mobile app offers access to a vast repository of 90,000 words. An ‘e-Saral‘ dictionary, comprising approximately 9,000 sentences, facilitates language learning.
About Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA):
The Department of Official Language was set up in June 1975 as an independent Department of the MHA.
Union Minister– Amit Shah (Constituency- Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat)
Ministers of State– Nityanand Rai; Ajay Kumar Mishra; Nisith Pramanik
