The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India came under heavy criticism on Tuesday (November 19) by a range of leaders from Tamil Nadu after its website continued to display the content predominantly in Hindi. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin strongly criticized LIC, accusing the national insurer of turning its website into a "propaganda tool" for Hindi imposition; however, the latter clarified that the issue was caused due to a "technical problem" and it has now been resolved.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the National Insurance Corporation apologized for the inconvenience caused to the people and announced that the issue had been resolved. "The website is now available in English and Hindi languages. The inconvenience caused is deeply regretted. - Team LIC," the post read.
Political Reactions
Significantly, the statement by the LIC came after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin raised his voice over the content available on the latter's website predominantly in Hindi only. He accused the national insurer of turning its website into a "propaganda tool.".
"This is nothing but cultural and language imposition by force, trampling on India's diversity. LIC grew with the patronage of all Indians. How dare it betray the majority of its contributors? We demand an immediate rollback of this linguistic tyranny," the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister stated.
Significantly, AIADMK general secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami also criticized the move. He urged the Center to revert the website's default language to English.
Further, BJP ally and PMK founder Dr. S. Ramadoss also termed the development a "blatant imposition" of Hindi. He mentioned, "It is unacceptable to prioritize one language at the expense of others. Institutions under the Union government must represent all sections of the population, not just Hindi speakers."
