The Union home ministry has set aside Rs 56 crore for the setting up of Bhartiya Bhasha Anubhag, a platform to facilitate translation of various languages into Hindi and vice-versa.
The first time allocation to create such a platform is aimed at developing and promoting Indian languages as well as bridging communication gaps between government officials using Hindi language and the common man whose proficiency lies in other Indian languages. In the last few years, the usage of Indian languages, especially Hindi has gone up in central ministries and departments. For babus who are not proficient in the Hindi language and are writing in English or various other Indian languages, the task can be made easy with access to quick translations.
Notably, the southern states have time and again expressed apprehension over attempts being made by the Centre to impose Hindi over non-Hindi speaking population. The platform is aimed at bridging the linguistic divide especially with the use of technology to surpass language barriers.
The effort, sources said, is to shed the colonial mindset and boost the use of Indian languages, whether it is Hindi or any other Indian language.
The move comes at a time when the home ministry has taken pains to explain that the Hindi names given to the three new criminal laws—Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Baharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam—implemented across the country beginning July, replacing the IPC, CrPC and Indian Evidence Act, should not be looked at from the narrow prism of language as they were meant to reflect the Indian laws in an Indian language.
Government officials said more than 50 laws already exist in the country which have Hindi names. The provision in the budgetary allocation for the establishment of Bhartiya Bhasha Anubhag is expected to bridge the divide between Hindi and other Indian languages and make it easy for ministries and departments of the central government to access translations of all the laws, policy documents, advisories and so on in any Indian language of their choice. The Department of Official Language in the home ministry carries out an assessment of the use of Hindu language across the country and promotes its usage.
The government has also been focussing on creating a central data bank of languages, language institutions and language experts while exploring ways to boost employment opportunities for language students.