How many people in India read, write and speak in Hindi? Parliamentary Panel wants MHA to find out

It said an expert committee of eminent linguists and lexicographers may be formed to search and select such words of different languages for a dictionary

A Parliamentary Standing Committee has asked the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to conduct a survey to collect data on the number of people who read, write and speak in the Hindi language and prepare a dictionary of Indian languages incorporating common words used in Hindi.

These recommendations in its report on MHA's Demands for Grants came as the Ministry told the panel that its Department of Official Language has not conducted any such survey but pointed out that the Census 2011 said that 52.83 crore people spoke Hindi.

Asked whether the government plans to make Hindi the national language, the MHA said that as per Article 343(1) of the Constitution of India, the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. There is no mention of national language in the Constitution.

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The Department of Official Language only ensures compliance with the constitutional and legal provisions regarding official language and promotes the use of Hindi for the official purposes of the Union. "The Committee recommends that the Department of Official Language may take up with the concerned authority to conduct a survey to collect data on the number of people reading, writing and speaking Hindi. A survey may also be conducted to check the impact of Hindi Pakhwada in promoting the Hindi language which is organised every year across the country," the panel said.

The panel headed by senior Congress MP Anand Sharma also recommended the MHA that a dictionary of Indian languages incorporating the common/synonymous words used in Hindi and other Indian languages be published.

It said an expert committee of eminent linguists and lexicographers may be formed to search and select such words of different languages for the dictionary. It also noted that the committee is of the view that the translation done in standard Hindi language is very tough to understand and interpret by a common man.

"Therefore, the committee recommends that the Department of Official Language may review the translation works done in Hindi and take necessary steps to ensure that the Hindi translation is done in a simple, easy to comprehend and reader-friendly manner," it said.

Asked about awards for popularising Hindi, the MHA informed the Committee that the Official Language policy of the government is based on motivation, encouragement and harmony. Several incentive schemes have been implemented by the Department of Official Language to promote the use of Hindi in the offices of the Government of India, it said.

Rajbhasha Gaurav Puraskar and Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar are being awarded at National Level every year on the occasion of Hindi Diwas on September 14. Regional Official Language awards are given at Regional Official Language Conferences every year. Hindi Pakhwada is also being organised from September 1 to 15 every year for the promotion of the use of the Hindi language, it added.