Hindi, one of the official languages of the Union government along with English, is one of the 22 Scheduled Languages, according to the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. Written in the Devanagari script, Hindi is spoken by around 600 million speakers worldwide.
World Hindi Day: History
It was on this day in 1949 when Hindi was spoken for the first time at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). To commemorate the occasion, World Hindi Day is observed to promote Hindi as an international language.
In 1950, Hindi was declared the official language of the Union of India and was designated as Hindi in Devanagari script in Article 343 of the Indian Constitution.
In 1975, the maiden World Hindi Conference was organised in Maharashtra’s Nagpur, with the event being inaugurated by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It witnessed the participation of as many as 30 countries.
This event was held to bring several Hindi scholars, writers, and laureates under one roof to recognise their contributions towards the development of the language.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh had in 2006 announced January 10 as the World Hindi Day. The 12th World Hindi Conference was organised in Fiji from February 15 to 17, 2023.
Theme
According to reports, the theme for this year is “Hindi: A Global Voice of Unity and Cultural Pride.” It aims to promote the language in the digital era.
Significance
World Hindi Day provides a platform to promote the usage of Hindi and raise awareness about the language. Also, this day celebrates the major contributions of various scholars and writers in the language.
On this day, several events are organised across cities to value the contributions of Hindi speakers.
It must be noted that the World Hindi Day, or Vishwa Hindi Diwas, is different from the Hindi Diwas, which is observed on September 14 every year.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
