Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah chaired the 32nd meeting of the ‘Kendriya Hindi Samiti’ in New Delhi today. The ‘Kendriya Hindi Samiti’ is the highest body that provides guidelines for the development and promotion of Hindi language.
In his address, Home Minster said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has undertaken several initiatives for the preservation, promotion, and extensive use of Indian languages, making the period from 2014 to 2024 an era dedicated for the protection and promotion of Indian languages. He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi recently five more Indian languages were granted classical language status. He highlighted that India is the only country in the world where 11 languages are recognized as classical languages.
Union Home Minister said that Prime Minister Modi has enhanced the importance of Hindi by expressing his views on every international forum in Hindi. He added that the availability of engineering, medical, primary, and secondary education in Indian languages has created a favorable environment for the development of all languages in the country. Shri Shah stated that this is an inspiring transformation in the direction of language development in India, with the objective of fully harnessing the nation’s potential. He said that if we want to utilize the full potential of our children and youth for the country’s development, it is essential that they study, analyze, and make decisions in their mother tongue. Shri Shah mentioned that the aim of the ‘Kendriya Hindi Samiti’ is to develop Hindi, preserve Hindi literature, and to establish it as the country’s link language.
Shri Amit Shah noted that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, three major initiatives have been undertaken in the past five years to empower Hindi. He mentioned that the first major initiative is the creation of the Hindi Shabdsindhu dictionary. He expressed confidence that within the next five years, Shabdsindhu will become the most comprehensive dictionary in the world. Shri Shah said that the establishment of the Bhartiya Bhasha Aunbhag (Indian Language Section) is the second significant initiative. Shri Shah said that we cannot progress unless we strengthen all Indian languages. He noted that this section has initiated efforts to use technology for translation. Union Home Minister added that the third major initiative is to hold the Official Language Conference in various parts of the country, which will make it easier to understand the importance of the official language.
Shri Amit Shah emphasized the need to undertake two major initiatives to strengthen Hindi. The first is to develop a long-term policy for the enhancement, preservation, and longevity of Hindi literature and its various grammatical forms. He stated that, alongside this, it is also necessary to translate all modern education curricula into Hindi and all other Indian languages. The Home Minister also stressed on making Hindi universally accepted and flexible.
The meeting was attended by Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda, Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State for Law and Justice Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Dr. L. Murugan, Chief Minister of Odisha Shri Mohan Charan Majhi, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, convenors of the three sub-committees of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language, Secretary of the Department of Official Language Smt. Anshuli Arya, and Joint Secretary Dr. Meenakshi Jolly.
‘Kendriya Hindi Samiti’ is the highest body that provides guidelines for the promotion and progressive use of Hindi. The Samiti’s role is to coordinate the work and programs implemented by various ministries and departments of the Government of India for the development and promotion of Hindi. The Samiti has the authority to appoint sub-committees and co-opt additional members as needed to assist in its functioning. The tenure of the Samiti is generally three years. The current Samiti was reconstituted on November 9, 2021. ‘Kendriya Hindi Samiti’, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, includes 9 Union Ministers, 6 Chief Ministers, the Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language, and the three convenors, making a total of 21 members.