Rajnath laments lack of Hindi use

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday lamented that Hindi was not used more extensively in official work despite a large chunk of people knowing or speaking the language.

Pitching for its regular use in government offices, he said it was ironic that even 67 years after the country’s Independence, Hindi was not being used widely in government offices.

“Seventy-five per cent of the people in the country either speak or know Hindi. But we do not use Hindi in official work. Now, such a situation has come that we have to observe ‘Hindi Divas’,” he said at a “Rajbhasha Samaroh” here.

President’s view

Addressing the gathering, President Pranab Mukherjee said Hindi has its own special position in a vast country like India, where many languages are spoken.

“It is the symbol of our social and cultural unity, and is the main connecting language between the people. It also has a significant role in connecting the government to the people. In order to ensure the success of social welfare schemes and programmes, it is necessary

to see that they reach the people in their own language,” he said. Mukherjee expressed happiness that the use of Hindi was gaining popularity on the Internet and elsewhere. He said: “We must make all efforts to maximise the usage of Hindi.”