New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee today described Hindi as a link between the country's ancient civilisation and modern progress and hoped that it will soon get recognition as the official language of the United Nations.
Addressing a function organised on the occasion of 'Hindi Divas', the President said Hindi has achieved a number of milestones since Independence and it is credited to be the vehicle of Indian thought and culture.
"The language is also a link between our traditional knowledge, ancient civilisation and modern progress. Our efforts should be to increase the use of Hindi in science and technology, so that participation of all, including the rural population, can be ensured in the progress of the country," he said after conferring awards to individuals and government organisations for taking special efforts for promotion of
Hindi.
Mukherjee said Hindi has its own imprint on the fast changing global economic scenario as millions of Indian diaspora around the world are using Hindi as a link language and this has given a new identification to Hindi at the international level.
"I am sure that with our joint effort, Hindi will soon get the recognition of the official language of the United Nations," he said.
The President said it was essential that simple translation of literature pertaining to technical knowledge is made available in Hindi and other Indian languages.
He said he was happy to note that in offices, the use of Hindi in Information Technology is increasing.
The President congratulated the award winners for their commendable work in Hindi and urged everyone to come together to propagate the use of Hindi.
Speaking on the occasion, Home Minister Rajnath Singh expressed concern over Hindi not getting prominence in various spheres of life the way it should have got.
"We have not given the kind of respect we should have given to Hindi. Some so called intellectuals still continue to try to promote English," he said.
Singh said he has nothing against any particular language but Hindi is the only language which connect every part of the country.
"75 per cent people in the country either speak Hindi or understand Hindi. In every village of the country, people either speak their mother tongue or Hindi, even if little. But they don't know English. Demand for making Hindi official language came first from non-Hindi speaking leaders like Bal Gangdadhar Tilak," he said.
The Home Minister said big technology companies have been giving stress to promotion of Hindi in a big way and as per a survey, among all languages, the maximum 94 per cent content is generated in Hindi while just 19 per cent content is generated in English.
"No doubt they are promoting Hindi for commercial reasons but they know the reach of Hindi," he said.
Singh said even though Tamil is considered to be the oldest Indian language after Sanskrit, the reach of Hindi is widest and hence it is considered the eldest sister of all Indian languages.
