Hindi Diwas, also known as Hindi Day, is annually observed on September 14 to commemorate the adoption of Hindi written in Devanagari script as one of the 22 official languages of India. by the Constituent Assembly on September 14, 1949.
- The day aims to raise awareness and promote the use of Hindi language.
- The year 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of Hindi becoming the official language.
Note: World Hindi Day is annually observed across the globe on January 10.
Background:
i.In 1918, Mahatma Gandhi proposed making Hindi a national language at the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan.
ii.In 1953, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister (PM) of India declared 14th September of every year as Hindi Diwas.
iii.The day also coincides with the birth anniversary of Beohar Rajendra Simha, a renowned Indian scholar known for his illustrations in the original manuscript of the Indian Constitution.
- It was on his 50th birthday that the Constituent Assembly formalised Hindi as the official language.
iv.The first-ever Hindi Diwas was observed on 14th September 1953.
Official Language Status:
i.On September 14 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted Hindi as the official language of the Republic of India.
ii.In 1950, the Constitution of India declared Hindi in the Devanagari script as the official language as per the Article 343 (1).
Awards Schemes for Hindi:
i.The Department of Official language under MHA has introduced an award scheme named ‘Rajbhasha Gaurav Puraskar’ scheme to encourage writing books originally in Hindi and to promote the official language.
ii.It also introduced ‘Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar’ to encourage the implementation of the official language.
Union Minister Amit Shah Addresses Diamond Jubilee Celebrations Of Hindi & 4th Akhil Bharatiya Rajbhasha Sammelan in New Delhi
Union Minister Amit Shah, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of Cooperation has addressed the Official Language Diamond Jubilee (75 years) Celebrations and the 4th Akhil Bharatiya Rajbhasha Sammelan at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, Delhi.
- The Department of Official Language has organised the 4th Akhil Bharatiya Rajbhasha Sammelan on 14-15 September 2024 to commemorate the completion of 75 years of Hindi as an official language.
Events:
i. Amit Shah released the Diamond Jubilee Special Issue of the ‘RajbhashaBharati‘ magazine, commemorating the Official Language Diamond Jubilee.
ii.He released a commemorative postage stamp and commemorative Rs.75 coin to mark the Diamond Jubilee.
iii.He also launched the Bharatiya Bhasha Anubhaag (Indian Languages Section) and presented the Rajbhasha Gaurav and Rajbhasha Kirti Awards.
Two-day 4th Akhil Bharatiya Rajbhasha Sammelan:
i.On September 14, the first day of the conference, there was a discussion on ‘Official Language Diamond Jubilee – Progress of Hindi as an official language, public language and contact language in 75 years’.
ii.The second session was about the ‘India’s cultural heritage and Hindi’, and the third session was about the ‘Role of dictionary in language teaching and specialty of Devanagari script’.
iii.The fourth session includes ‘Contribution of Town Official Language Committee’ in the implementation of Hindi.
iv.The fifth session was about the ‘BharatiyaNyaySanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023.
v.The last session was about the ‘Indian cinema, a powerful medium for the development of Hindi language’.
DARPG Awarded the Rajbhasha Kirti Award:
V.Srinivas, the Secretary of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) has been awarded the RajbhashaKirti Award (Puraskar) by the Union Minister Amit Shah.
- The award has been presented for the best performance in Official Language Hindi, to the DARPG, in the category of Ministries / Departments with less than 300 personnel, by the Department of Official Language, MHA for the year 2023-24.
About DARPG:
i.DARPG monitors the implementation of the India’s Official Language Policy across its departments, as well as its attached offices and autonomous bodies.
ii.It is also responsible for translating from English to Hindi received from various sections of the Department, such as General Orders, Rules, Standard Forms, Notifications, Resolution, specified in Section 3(3) of the Official Languages Act, 1963.
iii.It has also celebrated Hindi Pakhwada from September 14 to September 28, 2023, on the occasion of Hindi Diwas.
iv.The Quarterly Progress Report (QPR) and Annual Evaluation Reports are prepared by collecting data from various sections and sent to the Official Language Department on a regular basis to assess the work done by government employees in their official work in Hindi.
v.The joint Hindi Advisory Committee of DARPG, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoP&PW) has been established to monitor the implementation of Official Language Policy in the ministry.
About the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA):
Union Minister – Amit Shah (Constituency – Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat)
Minister of State (MoS) – Bandi Sanjay Kumar(Constituency – Karimnagar, Telangana); Nityanand Rai(Constituency- Ujiarpur, Bihar)
