Govt determined to enrich Indian languages: Amit Shah

New Delhi, Jun 26: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah Thursday addressed the ‘Golden Jubilee Celebration’ of the Department of Official Language in New Delhi as the Chief Guest.
On this occasion, several dignitaries including Chief Minister of Delhi Rekha Gupta, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language Bhartruhari Mahtab, Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi, and Secretary of the Department of Official Language Anshuli Arya were present.
In his address, Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, said that during the centenary of India’s independence, the 50-year journey of the Department of Official Language from 1975 to 2025 will be inscribed in golden letters among all the efforts for the revival of the nation’s self-respect. He said that the objective of establishing the Department of Official Language was to ensure that the governance of the country is run in the language of its citizens and that the use of Indian languages in administration awakens the nation’s self-respect.
Shah said that no country can preserve its culture, literature, history, and social values without its language. For the country to move forward with self-respect based on its culture, its governance must be conducted in its own languages. The Department of Official Language was started with this great objective, and this 50-year journey today stands at such a juncture where we must strive to take it forward and complete the remaining path. He said that this 50-year journey has been completed collectively by all of us on the foundation of struggle, dedication, and determination.
Amit Shah said that among the five pledges (Panch Pran) given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the resolve to free ourselves from the mindset of slavery is extremely important. Until a person takes pride in its own language, and develops the ability to express, think, analyse, and make decisions in its own language, we cannot be free from the mentality of slavery. He said that language is not merely a medium of communication, but the soul of the nation. Our roots, traditions, history, identity, and cultural way of life cannot progress if disconnected from language, and it is essential to keep languages alive and enrich them. He said that in the coming days, we must make all such efforts for all Indian languages, and especially for the official language.
Union Home Minister said that in the past 11 years, Prime Minister Modi has launched the “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat” program, and under this initiative, events like Kashi-Tamil Sangamam, Kashi-Telugu Sangamam, Saurashtra-Tamil Sangamam, Shashwat Mithila Mahotsav, and Bhasha Sangam have provided a very effective platform to strengthen the unity of the country. He said that today, as part of the Bhasha Sangam initiative, a program is being run in every school to teach students 100 commonly used sentences in the 22 languages recognized by the Constitution. Shah said that this initiative started through Bhasha Sangam will, in the coming days, become a life-giving force for Indian languages and will grow like a vast banyan tree.
Amit Shah said that the Department of Official Language has created the “Hindi Shabdsindhu,” which is a major effort to make the official language accepted, flexible, and comprehensive. He said that there should be no hesitation in enriching any language, and commonly spoken words—regardless of their origin—once they are included in the Hindi Shabdsindhu, they will be recognized as Hindi words in future. He expressed confidence that the Hindi Shabdsindhu will not only make Hindi more flexible and enriched but will also connect it with other Indian languages.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that Bharatiya Bhasha Anubhag has also been established this year. He said that Hindi cannot be inimical to any Indian language. He said that Hindi is a friend of all Indian languages, and together, Hindi and other Indian languages can take the program of enhancing our self-pride to its ultimate goal. He said that Bharatiya Bhasha Anubhag will assist every state to ensure that the administration of states and the Government of India is run in Indian languages. Shah mentioned that technical education has been introduced in 12 Indian languages in our country. He added that Madhya Pradesh has started medical education in Hindi, with a complete curriculum prepared, and in the coming days, other states will also prepare their entire medical education curriculum in their respective languages to provide facilities for children. He urged all states to make arrangements to provide engineering and medical education in their state languages.
Amit Shah said that no state can ever become great by neglecting its mother tongue and the Modi government has made many efforts to honour and dignify its languages. It was during Prime Minister Modi’s tenure that Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali have been recognised as classical languages. He said that today there are 11 classical languages available in India in the form of Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali. There is no country in the whole world which has 11 classical languages. He said that in 2020, three Kendriya Vidyalayas for Sanskrit were established and the Central Institute of Classical Tamil for Research and Translation was established.
Shah said that the Parliamentary Committee on Official Languages has published 3 volumes in the last 4 years. He said that despite Covid, 3 volumes have been published. Shri Shah added that till 2014, a total of 9 volumes were published and now after 2019, 3 volumes have been published which is a huge achievement. During Covid-19, training was started in Hindi language, Hindi typing, Hindi stenography and Hindi translation through e-training by Kendriya Hindi Training Institute and Central Translation Bureau which has now been decided to be regularized.
Union Home Minister said that Prime Minister Modi brought the New Education Policy (NEP) in 2020. He said that for any nation, the education policy is a reflection of the path the country will take in the coming 50 years. The NEP-2020 lays emphasis on teaching mother tongue and local language up to Class 5 and Class 8. He said that the development of our languages has been supported in principle and 104 books of primary classes have also been started in 22 states and union territories. i Shah said that translated teaching materials and books have been made available for classes 1 to 12 for Indian Sign Language. More than 200 TV channels provide educational content in 29 languages and over 366,000 e-content in 133 dialects, including 7 foreign languages, is made available on the DIKSHA platform. He said that this initiative of the New Education Policy will go a long way in strengthening the official language and Indian languages. The Home Minister also said that the examination for the post of constable in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) is now conducted in Indian languages and 95 per cent of the applicants are taking the examination in their mother tongue. This shows that the future of Indian languages is very bright in the coming days, he added.
Amit Shah said that the Department of Official Language has decided that in the coming days, we will make Indian languages the language of teenagers and youth through Bharatiya Bhasha Anubhag. He said that in the last few decades, language was made a tool to break India, but this effort did not succeed. The Home Minister said that we have to ensure that our languages become a powerful medium to connect India and not break it. The Home Minister said that the foundation being laid today under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi will create a developed and great India in 2047. Under this, Indian languages will be developed and enriched as well as their usefulness will be increased.