'Difficult to understand, violates Constitution...': Hindi names of new bills sparks row in Parliament

New Delhi: The NDA government's new practice of naming bills primarily in Hindi—deviating from the long-standing tradition of providing both Hindi and English titles—has kicked up a row.

In recent years, the NDA government has introduced several legislations with Hindi names. Non-Hindi-speaking states, mainly in southern India, allege that this amounts to an imposition of Hindi.

The latest is the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025 introduced in Lol Sabha on Tues. The Bill seeks to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA).

On Monday, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced a legislation aimed at reforms in higher education titled the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill. Another, the Sabka Bima, Sabki Raksha Bill, is named to amend insurance laws.

Earlier, the Centre introduced laws replacing the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Indian Evidence Act. These were named the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill.

The Aircraft Act of 1934 was replaced by the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak.

During the ongoing Parliament's winter session, several MPs objected to the use of Hindi names, arguing that they are difficult to understand.

When Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday, RSP(A) leader N.K. Premachandran said it was difficult for him to pronounce the name.

He alleged that this practice violates Article 348 of the Constitution, which requires new laws to have English titles.

Congress member Jothimani and DMK members T.M. Selvaganapathi and T.R. Baalu also objected to the Hindi names.

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram criticised the Centre's latest practice.

"So far, the practice was to write the title of the Bill in English words in the English version and in Hindi words in the Hindi version of the Bill. When no one pointed out any difficulty in this 75-year practice, why should the government make a change?", in a post on X, he said

What the Constitution says

Article 348(1)(b) of the Indian Constitution mandates that, until Parliament decides otherwise, the authoritative text for all Bills, Acts, Ordinances, orders, rules, regulations, and bye-laws at the central and state levels must be in English. This ensures legal clarity and uniformity, especially in cases of translation discrepancies where the English version prevails.