Lok Sabha Question No. 4098 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-28
Subject: Hindi Language
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Rattan Lal Kataria

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4098 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28 TH  MARCH, 2022

## Hindi Language

## + 4098. SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA:

Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state :

- (a) whether Hindi language can prove to be helpful in becoming global identity of the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  the  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  nominate  Hindi  language  among  the languages of the United Nations;
- (d) whether any guidelines have been issued regarding the use of Hindi in the offices of the Central Government and State Governments; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (Dr. SUBHAS SARKAR)

(a)  &  (b):  Promotion  of  Hindi  in  foreign  countries  is  a  matter  of  high  priority  for  the Government.  In  this  regard,  several  initiatives  have  been  taken  up  by  the  Government  of India to promote Hindi in foreign countries which, inter-alia, include organisation of World Hindi Conferences from time to time at various locations both in India and abroad.  Hindi Chairs  have  been  established  in  various  foreign  Universities  and  Institutions  and  Hindi teachers  are  deputed  in  Indian  Cultural  Centres  abroad.    Scholarships  and  Fellowships  are awarded  to  the  foreign  students  for  studying  Hindi  language  and  literature  under  Indian Council  for  Cultural  Relations  Fellowship  Programme.    In  order  to  generate  interest  and ability  of  foreigners  in  speaking  Hindi,  'Baat  Cheet'  Clubs  have  been  set  up  in  Indian Missions and Posts abroad.  World Hindi Day is celebrated every  year on 10 th January  by Indian Missions and Posts abroad to promote Hindi . On the occasion of World Hindi Day 2022, UNESCO's World Heritage Centre (WHC) has agreed to publish Hindi descriptions of India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites on its official website.

(c) :  The Government has been making sustained efforts for the recognition of Hindi as an official language of the UN and to popularize Hindi throughout the UN system. In 2018, a Voluntary Financial Contribution Agreement was signed between the UN  and the Government of India to promote Hindi within the UN system for a two-year term. This was the first Memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the UN with any country. This was extended by another 5 years in 2019 and is currently in force till March 2025. Pursuant to this Agreement,  the  UN  has  launched  Hindi  social  media  accounts  on  Facebook,  Twitter  and Instagram  as  well  as  a  Hindi  website  of  United  Nations  @  https://in.one.un.org/hindi/.    In addition,  the  UN  broadcasts  its  programmes  on  the  UN  Radio  website  in  Hindi  @ https://soundcloud.com/un-news-hindi, issues a weekly Hindi news bulletin on Sound Cloud, publishes a UN blog in Hindi @ https://blogs.un.org/hi/ and has provided a Hindi extension of UN News mobile app for both Android and iOS.

On several occasions, Indian leaders have delivered statements in Hindi at the UN, including Prime Minister's address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Sessions in 2014, 2019, 2020 and 2021, and the then External Affairs Minister's address at the UNGA sessions in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

(d) & (e): The use of Hindi Language in the Ministries/Departments/Subordinate offices of Central Government for the official purposes is guided by  Article 343 of the Constitution, The Official Languages Act, 1963 and The Official Languages Rules, 1976.  The Department of Official Language issues guidelines to the Ministries / Departments / Subordinate offices of  Central  Government  regarding  the  progressive  use  of  Official  Language  Hindi  through persuasion, incentive and goodwill from time to time.  The above guidelines are applicable only for Central Government  offices  and  do  not  extend  to  offices under  the State Governments.

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