The Department of Official Language, Ministry of Home Affairs, organized a joint regional official language conference and prize distribution ceremony for Central Government Offices, Banks and Undertakings located in North-1 and North-2 regions in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh today. The Twitter handle of the Department of Official Language was also inaugurated on the occasion. Publicity is done by the Department of Official Language in the direction of discharging Constitutional obligations and through this handle the promotion of the Official Language will receive greater momentum.
The Chief Guest at the conference, Union Minister of State for Home Shri Nityanand Rai said in his address that Hindi has an important role in weaving India into a thread of unity. He said that the language of any country is a symbol of its identity. Hindi has been the most powerful medium of national integration from India’s Independence movement till date. Hindi is not only our official language but also the language of the Indian people. Hindi is a rich, powerful and simple language. Shri Rai said that history is witness that during the Freedom Movement, Hindi played an important role in awakening the wonderful feeling of patriotism and self-respect amongst our countrymen by keeping the entire country united and affirmed the concept of ‘Unity in Diversity’. Swaraj, Swadeshi and Swabhasha were emphasized during the Freedom Struggle. It was the national opinion that without Swadeshi and Swabhasha, Swaraj would not be meaningful. It was the firm belief of our national leaders that a country cannot fundamentally define and experience its Independence in the absence of its own language. He said that Mahatma Gandhi had said in this context, the Freedom Movement is not only a question of Swaraj, but also a question of one’s own language.
Shri Nityanand Rai said that in a vast democratic country like India, language is of utmost importance for reaching the benefits of schemes run by the government to the last person of the country. The welfare schemes of the government will become effective only when every section of the country is benefited, so that the objective of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ can be fulfilled. Corruption can also be ended by the use of the Mother Tongue and the public can receive full benefits of government schemes. For this, it is necessary that the business of governance should be executed in the language of the common people. He said that it is necessary for us to understand that it is a very important duty of the government system and the test of its success, to carry out all social, economic and cultural requirements of the people of the country upto the last mile, through the Official Language – Hindi. If we want our democracy to continue to be progressive and vibrant, then we have to increase the use of Hindi in the working of the Union and the provincial languages in the work of the states. Shri Rai said that therefore I think that we should increasingly use our local languages instead of English. He said that along with Hindi, excellent literature has been written in abundance in many other Indian languages. Shri Nityanand Rai said that today most work in the Ministry of Home Affairs is being done in the Official Language.
In his address, the Union Minister of State for Home, Shri Ajay Kumar Mishra said that during our Freedom Struggle, Hindi played an important role as a link language and after Independence, the Constitution chose Hindi as the Official Language of the Union. This was the period when Hindi infused a new consciousness of patriotism and solidarity amongst our slavery-stricken countrymen. Hindi was considered as the natural sequence of development of the Indian thought-stream. He said that the heroes of the Indian Freedom Struggle directly linked Hindi with national unity. Acharya Vinaba Bhave and Mahatma Gandhi made the Freedom Movement a mass movement and Hindi as the link language. Shri Mishra said that the influence of Hindi was to have increased after Independence, but efforts made after Independence could not yield expected results.
Shri Ajay Kumar Mishra said that the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi uses Hindi to address the nation and also when abroad and this is the reason why people are taking pride in speaking Hindi, and instead of having an inferiority complex a large number of people are using Hindi. The Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah has continuously tried in various forums to promote the need to do most of the work in the Official Language and people should fulfill their Constitutional obligations. Shri Mishra said that due to the increasing influence of Hindi, the prevalence of Hindi has increased at the United Nations. In the Amrit Mahotsav year of Independence, we have to take a pledge that when 100 Years of Independence will be completed, then India will be strong in every respect and this will be possible with everyone’s efforts. Shri Mishra said that in the New Education Policy under the leadership of the Prime Minister, emphasis has been laid on education in the Mother Tongue during primary education, and this will strengthen the Official Language and other Indian languages.
The Union Minister of State for Home said that the Constitution has entrusted us all with the responsibility of developing and spreading the Official Language – Hindi. This work is possible only with the cooperation and goodwill of all. Voluntary use increases the breadth of the language, enriches the language and enhances it. He said it is expected from the citizens of our great Nation, which has given the world the esoteric knowledge of science, mathematics, yoga, spirituality and culture, due to which India is called Jagat-Guru, that they should faithfully fulfill their obligations towards the Official Language. Shri Mishra said that the basic mantra of our democracy is ‘Sarvajan Hitay’, therefore welfare of all. He said that the welfare schemes of the government will be considered effective only when there is constant communication, contact and transparency between the public and the government and the benefits of government schemes are equally available to all citizens. Our democracy can flourish only when we reach out to the people about their interests in their own language. He said that Hindi, the Official Language at the national level, is fulfilling this responsibility very well.
In her welcome address, Ms. Anshuli Arya, Secretary, Department of Official Language said that Department of Official Language is making continuous efforts to comply with Constitutional provisions regarding the Official Language and to promote the use of Hindi in official work. She said that many effective means have been provided by the Department of Official Language to work smoothly in Hindi. In order to make the use of Hindi easier in official work, the Department of Official Language has prepared the ‘E-Mahashabdkosh Mobile App’ and the ‘E-Saral Hindi Sentence Kosh’, apart from other e-tools and applications. Similarly, to assist in translation by the department, the memory based translation software ‘Kanthasth’ has been developed with the help of C-DAC Pune, and using this Hindi can be promoted in official work. Ms. Arya said that inspired by the call of the Prime Minister of “Self-reliant India – Be vocal for local”, the Department of Official Language is doing everything possible to make the indigenously made memory based translation tool “Kantastha” more popular and to increase its use in various organizations.
Speaking in the program, the Vice Chancellor of the Chandrashekhar Azad Agricultural University Dr. D.R. Singh said that today English is not necessary for progress at the global level, today Hindi is receiving increased acceptance at the global level. According to the Constitution, the Official Language of the Union is Hindi and we have been entrusted with the responsibility of propagating the Official Language.
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