Hindi Diwas

The annual celebration of Hindi Diwas commemorates September 14, 1949, the day when the Constituent Assembly of India took the decision to make Hindi the official language of the Union government.

• The Constituent Assembly of India adopted Hindi written in Devnagari Script along with English as the official language of the country on September 14, 1949, under Article 343(1).
  • Initially, English was granted the official language status for only 15 years since the adoption of the constitution. During these 15 years, Hindi’s reach was to be promoted for official purposes as well as in the education sector so that English would fade out, giving ground to Hindi.
• Imposition of Hindi was contested in many non-Hindi states, especially in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
  • Violent protests broke out in southern India leading the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, to introduce the ‘Official Languages Act’ in 1963, which assured the continuation of English along with Hindi as the official language of the Union of India.
• Anti-Hindi protests of 1965 marked an important turn in India’s official language policy.
  • The ‘Official Languages Act’ was amended in 1967 guaranteeing the "virtual indefinite policy of bilingualism" for all official purposes of the Union.
• Given the linguistic diversity of India, there is no national language as all the states are free to decide their own official languages.

Constitutional Provisions

• Article 343(1)states that the Official Language of the Union government shall be Hindi in Devanagari script.
• Article 351gives power to the Union Government to issue a directive for the development of the Hindi language.
• The Hindi language is one of the 22 languages of the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India.

About Hindi Diwas

• Hindi Language, written in the Devanagari script, was adopted as one of the official languages of India on this day in 1949.
• The day is also called as Hindi Day.
• It is observed across India to honour and promote the Hindi language among people, with special emphasis on children.

About Hindi Language

• Hindi is written in Devanagari script for the unversed.
• It comprises of a large number of dialects.
• Hindi Language stands at fourth place worldwide after English, Spanish and Mandarin.