STATE TIMES NEWS
New Delhi: The Modi government’s tenure is a glorious period for the preservation and promotion of Indian languages and it has taken several steps for their extensive use, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday.
Chairing the 32nd meeting of the Kendriya Hindi Samiti here, Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, five more Indian languages were recently granted classical status.
With this, India has become the only country to have recognised 11 languages as classical languages.
Modi has enhanced the importance of Hindi by expressing his views on every international forum in the language, an official statement cited Shah as saying.
The prime minister has undertaken several initiatives for the preservation, promotion and extensive use of Indian languages, making the period from 2014 to 2024 an era dedicated to the protection and promotion of Indian languages, Shah said.
The availability of engineering, medical, primary and secondary education in Indian languages has created a favourable environment for the development of all languages, he added.
This is an inspiring transformation in the direction of language development in India, with the objective of fully harnessing the nation’s potential, the home minister further said.
Shah said, “If we want to utilise the full potential of our children and youth for the country’s development, it is essential that they study, analyse and make decisions in their mother tongue.”
The Kendriya Hindi Samiti aims to develop Hindi, preserve Hindi literature, and establish it as the country’s link language, he said.
The home minister noted that under the leadership of Modi, three major initiatives were undertaken to empower Hindi in the past five years.
The first initiative was the creation of the “Hindi Shabdsindhu” dictionary, he said.
Shah expressed confidence that the “Shabdsindhu” would become the most comprehensive dictionary in the world within the next five years.
The home minister said the establishment of the Bhartiya Bhasha Aunbhag (Indian Language Section) was the second significant initiative.
“We cannot progress unless we strengthen all Indian languages,” he said, adding that this section had initiated efforts to use technology for translation.
He said the third major initiative was to hold the Official Language Conference in various parts of the country and it would make it easier to understand the importance of the official language.
Shah emphasised 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 said.
Alongside this, it is also necessary to translate all modern education curricula into Hindi and all other Indian languages, the minister added.
Shah also stressed on making Hindi universally accepted and flexible.
The Kendriya Hindi Samiti is the highest body that provides guidelines for the development and promotion of Hindi language.
The Samiti’s role is to coordinate the work and programmes implemented by various ministries and departments of the government of India for the development and promotion of Hindi.