Department of Official Language
The Department
Official Language is the Government of India's
department responsible for the implementation of the provisions of the
Constitution relating to official languages and the provisions of the Official
Languages Act, 1963. Department of Official Language was set up in
June 1975 as an independent Department of the Ministry
of Home Affairs.
History
The
official languages of British India were
English, Urdu and Hindi,
with English being used for purposes at the central level. The Indian
constitution adopted in 1950 envisaged that English would be phased out in
favour of Hindi, over a fifteen-year period, but gave Parliament the power to, by law, provide
for the continued use of English even thereafter. Plans
to make Hindi the sole official language of the Republic were met with resistance in
many parts of the country. English and Hindi continue to be used today, in
combination with others (at the central level and in some states) official
languages.
The
legal framework governing the use of languages for official purpose currently
is the Official
Languages Act, 1963, the Official Language Rules, 1976, and various
state laws, as well as rules and regulations made
by the central government and the states.
The Indian constitution,
in 1950, declared Hindi in Devanagari script to be the official language of the union. Unless
Parliament decided otherwise, the use of English for official purposes was to
cease 15 years after the constitution came into effect, i.e., on 26 January
1965. The prospect of the changeover, however, led to much alarm in the
non-Hindi-speaking areas of India, especially Dravidian-speaking
states whose languages were not related to Hindi at all. As a result, Parliament enacted
the Official
Languages Act, 1963, which provided for the continued use of English for official purposes
along with Hindi, even after 1965.
Department
of Official Language was set up in June 1975 as an independent Department of
the Ministry
of Home Affairs.
Organizational
structure
Minister
of Home Affairs is the head of the department. The department
is divided into four main offices.
·
Central Translation Bureau
·
Central Hindi Training Institutes
·
Committee of Parliament on Official
Language
·
Regional Implementation Offices
Activities
Annual
targets are set by the Department of Official Language regarding the amount of
correspondence being carried out in Hindi. A Parliament Committee on Official
Language constituted in 1976 periodically reviews the progress in the use of
Hindi and submits a report to the President. The governmental body which makes
policy decisions and established guidelines for the promotion of Hindi is
the Kendriya Hindi Samiti (est. 1967). In every city that has
more than ten central Government offices, a Town Official Language
Implementation Committee is established and cash awards are given to government
employees who write books in Hindi. All Central government offices and PSUs are
to establish Hindi Cells for implementation of Hindi in their offices.
Department hosts various events throughout the year
to promote Hindi language.
Hindi Diwas
Hindi
Day (Hindi: हिन्दी दिवस; Hindī Diwas) is celebrated every year on 14 September marking
the declaration of Hindi language as
official language of Union government
of India. On 14 September 1949, Hindi was adapted as official language in India.
Workshops
Hindi
language training workshops are arranged periodically by the department.
Awards
Various
national awards are given to individuals as well as to other government
departments for their exceptional work.
·
Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar (for other
internal government agencies)
·
Official language Achievement Award
Ministry
of Home Affairs in its order dated 25 March 2015 has changed
name of two awards given annually on Hindi Divas. 'Indira Gandhi Rajbhasha
Puraskar' instituted in 1986 changed to 'Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar' and 'Rajiv
Gandhi Rashtriya Gyan-Vigyan Maulik Pustak Lekhan Puraskar' changed to
"Rajbhasha Gaurav Puraskar".
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