Hindi Diwas or Hindi Day is observed every year on 14 September to mark the popularity of Hindi as an official language of India. The language was adopted under Article 343 of the Indian Constitution. The first Hindi day was celebrated on 14th September 1953. Hindi is one of the major languages used in India as a large portion of the country’s population knows and uses the language. Schools, colleges and other educational institutions celebrate Hindi Diwas by organising various programs.
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Why is Hindi Diwas celebrated?
Hindi Diwas is celebrated to commemorate the adoption of Hindi in the Devanagari script as one of the official languages of the nation. Hindi was adopted by the National Constitution on September 14, 1949 and it became the official language of the country. India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, decided to celebrate September 14 as Hindi Diwas.
Hindi Diwas also marks celebrating the birthday of Beohar Rajendra Simha who played a crucial role in getting Hindi in the Devanagari script approved as an official language of India. He was born on 14 September 1916.
Interesting facts about the Hindi language:
- Hindi language is written in Devnagiri script and is a descendant of Sanskrit.
- Over 50 crore people in India speak Hindi.
- Commonly used Hindi words like ‘Surya Namaskar’ and ‘Jugaad’ are part of the Oxford Dictionary.
- First journal in the Hindi language was published on the Internet in 2000.
- The word Hindi is derived from the Persian Word Hind which means “Land of Indus River”.
- Hindi is the fourth most spoken language of the world. The first three are Chinese, Spanish and English.
- Hindi is spoken in countries like Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, UAE, Bangladesh, Mauritius, Tobago, etc.
- Central Hindi Directorate, Government of India regulate the provisions regarding the Hindi language.
- The first state of India that accepted Hindi as its official language was Bihar.
- The first Hindi poem was composed and released by Amir Khusro.
- The former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee delivered a speech in the Hindi Language at the United Nations in 1977.
Article 343: Official Language of the Union
- According to Article 343, the Devanagari script of Hindi language will be the official language of the Union. It also provided that the English language along with Hindi will be continued to use for 15 more years, i.e., up to 25 January 1965 years from the date of commencement of the Constitution.
- Part 3 of Article 343 vests power in the Parliament to make a law to continue the use of the English language for official purposes even after 25 January 1965.
- The Constitution makes it clear that the President by order can authorize the use of the Hindi language besides English and the Devanagari form of numerals besides the international form of Indian numerals for any of the official purposes of the Union.
- Under the circumstances, the Parliament enacted The Official Languages Act, 1963. Section 3 of The Official Languages Act, 1963 came to force on the 26th day of January 1965 and provided for the continuance of the English language official purposes of the Union and for business transactions in Parliament.
- This Act also laid down that both English and Hindi languages will be used for specific purposes like to give Orders, pass Resolutions, Notifications, Rules, Agreements, Licenses, Contracts, Notices, Forms of Tender, etc.
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