 DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGES

7.01. The programmes for the development of languages followed by the Ministry are guided by the basic principles and policies enshrined in the Constitution of India, strengthened and elaborated in 1968 by the Parliamentary Resolution on the languages and the Government of India Resolution on the National Policy on Education. Article 351 of the Constitution vests the Union Government with the responsibility of enriching, developing and promoting Hindi so as to make it serve as a medium of expression for the diverse elements of our composite culture. Parliament's Resolution on Language Policy emphasised that in the interest of the educational and cultural advancement of the country it Was necessary to take concerted measures for the full development of the 14 major Indian languages, besides Hindi. The National Policy on Education adopted by the Government following the recommendations of the Education Commission (1964-66) declared: "The energetic development of Indian languages and literature is a sine qua non for educational and cultural development. Unless this is done the creative energies of the people will not be released, standards of education will not improve, knowledge will not spread to the people and the gulf between the intelligentsia and the masses will remain, if not widen further."

7.02. The programmes also lay due emphasis on English, the associate official language of the Union and on Sanskrit, the mother of a majority of modern Indian languages, because of their special relevance to the country's Past and future.

7.03. An outline of the efforts made and progress achieved during the year in the field is given in the following sections.

A: SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL TERMINOLOGY FOR INDIAN LANGUAGES

7.04. Terminology in Mull: The Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT) was constituted in 1961 for the evolution of scientific and technical terminology. Later in 1963, terminology work in the humanities and social sciences as also assigned to it. During a decade of its work, the Commission has been able to complete a major part of its assigned task, namely, evolution of terminology in most of the subjects. Work on engineering, agriculture, medicine and departmental terminology in defence is in hand. During 1970-71, till the, end of January, 1971 about 24,500 terms pertaining to sciences, humanities and government departments were evolved and about 17,500 terms were finalised. In all, about 397,250 terms have been evolved and about 369,500 terms finalised so far.

7.05. Terminology in Urdu: The Taraqui-e-Urdu Board, set up by the Ministry in 1969 to look after the programmes of producing university-level books in Urdu, has also engaged itself in evolving scientific and technical terms in Urdu. In this regard the Board set up a high-power committee which has recommended that the terms evolved by the CSTT may be suitably adopted in Urdu language, terms already current in Urdu in the subjects concerned may be preferred and terms in English may be retained where suitable equivalents are not available. Evolution of terminology in Urdu has been entrusted to scholars under the guidance of Prof. M. Mujeeb. The finalisation of technical terms in Urdu has been entrusted to an expert committee. So far 20,000 terms in 12 subjects have been coined out of which 5500 terms have been finalised.

7.06. Coordination Work Relating to Terminology: Immediately after the first few glossaries were printed by the CSTT, a concerted attempt was made to effect co-ordination of terminological work in various regional languages. In September, 1968 a conference of state officers in charge of regional languages was held by the Commission. The conference was of the view that it

was necessary that, as far as possible, scientific and technical terms in various languages should be uniform and the terminology evolved by the CSTT should serve as a basis for adoption/ adaptation. The work has assumed greater significance in the context of the present massive programmes of producing university-level books in Indian languages. Complete data of terminological work conducted by various State agencies are being collected by the CSTT.

7.07. A broad-based continuing "Terminology Unit" is proposed to be created to undertake terminological work in future in various branches of sciences and to meet the needs of various government departments, universities and fast-developing Indian languages. A statement of Hindi terminological work done by the CSTT in various subjects is given in Annexure E.

7.08. Terminological Glossaries and Dictionaries: The work on the finalisation and co-ordination of terms has been in progress according to schedule. Coordination of terminology prepared in various units/agencies with a view to preparing manuscripts for subject-wise and consolidated glossaries is a task that the CSTT has been pursuing simultaneously all these years. 20 glossaries have been brought out so far including two brought out during the year, viz., Commerce Glossary, and Science Glossary (Hindi-English).

7.09. Initiated in 1958 under the guidance of Dr. S. Verma, the then General Editor, work on definitional dictionaries was kept in abeyance in the CSTT during 1969-70, to enable the staff to concentrate on terminological work. As soon as interdisciplinary terms are coordinated, the work on the definitions will be undertaken as a part of a big dictionary project.

B: PROMOTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF HINDI

7.10. The Central, Hindi Directorate (CHD), New Delhi, a subordinate office of the Ministry, set up in March, 1960, looks mainly after the development of Hindi, besides a few promotional programmes. Programmes for the propagation and promotion of

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Hindi, particularly in non-Hindi-speaking states, are mostly im- plemented by the Ministry. Steps have also been taken for the promotion of Hindi abroad. To provide efficient teaching and training facilities, an autonomous body known as 'Kendriya Hindi Shikshana Mandal' has been set up. An outline of the programmes and activities is given in this section.

7.11. Appointment of Hindi Teachers. in Non-Hindi-Speaking; States: The Governments of the non-Hindi-Speaking states are given financial assistance on a 100 per cent basis for the appointment of Hindi teachers in higher primary and secondary schools in their jurisdiction. During 1970-71, employment of 1,200 additional Hindi teachers, has been authorised, raising the total number of such teachers to 6,900 involving a total allocation of Rs. 100 lakh among the various non-Hindi-speaking states during the year.

7.12 Establishment of Hindi Teachers' Training Colleges in the Non-Hindi-Speaking States: Under this scheme the Union Government provides financial assistance to the non-Hindi-speaking states on a 100 per cent basis for the establishment of Hindi teachers' training 'colleges. It has been decided that those colleges which were set up in the Third Plan and have completed a tenure of five years, should also continue to receive financial assistance up to the end of the Fourth Plan. 10 such colleges had been established by 1968-69. Two more new colleges-one each in Assam end Orissa were approved for assistance during 1969-70. Nearly 740 teachers received training in these colleges. During 1970-71, approval has also been given for one more college. The estimated expenditure during 1970-71 on the scheme is of the order of Rs. 8.50 lakh.

7.13. Opening of Hindi-Medium Colleges or Establishment of Hindi- Medium Sections in the Existing Colleges in Non-Hindi-Speaking States: A new scheme under the Fourth Plan with a proposed allocation of Rs. 50 lakh has been drawn up, its details have been worked out and the scheme awaits final approval. It is proposed to set up at least one Hindi-medium college or a Hindi-medium section in an existing college, in each non-Hindi

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speaking state under this scheme.

7.14. Financial Assistance to Voluntary Hindi Organisations: Financial assistance is being given to voluntary Hindi organisations to help them carry on their Hindi propagation activities. During 1970-71 grants to the tune of Rs. 14 lakh were given to nearly 130 voluntary Hindi organisations.

7.15. Award of Prizes to Hindi Writers of Non-Hindi-Speaking States: Hindi writers belonging to non-Hindi-speaking states whose mother tongue is other than Hindi are awarded prizes of the value of Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 according to first and second gradations. Eight writers were awarded first prizes and six second prizes for writing books in Hindi during 1968-69. Four first prizes and seven second prizes were awarded during 1969-70. Work on similar awards for 1970- 71 was in progress.

7.16. Kendriya Hindi Shikshana Mandal, Agra: The Kendriya Hindi Shikshana Mandal, Agra, set up in 1960, runs a Central Institute at Agra which, apart from conducting training courses for Hindi teachers, conducts research into the methods of teaching Hindi. 171 trainees from various non-Hindi-speaking states have been undergoing training in Nishnat and Parangat courses of the Institute in its session 1970-71. Besides, a refresher course, was arranged during 1970 in which 37 teachers of non-Hindi-speaking states participated. At the instance of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Kendriya Hindi Shikshana Mandal has started an intensive course of 12 weeks duration at Delhi for teaching Hindi to Central Government employees. The first course started on May 15, 1970 and ended on August 22, 1970. The second course started in September, 1970 and ended on December 31, 1970. Among the new schemes to be implemented by the Mandal, mention may be made of running compressed courses for giving training to Hindi-knowing trained teachers of non-Hindi speaking states and the production of linguaphone records, tapes, etc. It is also proposed to start a short-term refresher course for the existing Hindi teachers employed in the non-Hindi-speaking states. This course will consist of training for one month with a minimum of 40 teachers to be admitted in each course. At least seven such courses are proposed to be conducted during 1971-72.

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7.17. Scheme of Correspondence Courses in Hindi: Corres- pondence courses for teaching Hindi to non-Hindi-speakers and foreigners in the country and abroad were started in March 1968, by the Central Hindi Directorate. The main object was to provide facility of learning Hindi through the medium of English to those who could not do so for want of time and resources. The scheme envisages two general courses, namely, Hindi Pravesh (a two-year course for beginners) and Hindi Parichaya (a two-year advance course equivalent to the Hindi course prescribed for matric), and three special courses, viz., Hindi Prabodh, Hindi Praveen and Hindi Pragya. Hindi Pravesh and Hindi Parichaya. courses are open to persons above the age of 15 years whose mother tongue is not Hindi. Prabodh, Praveen and Pragya courses are restricted to the following categories of Central Government employees: (a) class I officers, (b) operational staff, (c) employees posted at places where there are no Hindi teaching centres of the Ministry of Home Affairs under the Hindi Teaching Scheme, and (d) teachers of kendriya vidyalayas. The first two-year Hindi Pravesh course was started in March 1968 with 1,008 students; its second session started in September 1969 with 1,987 students; and the third session from 1st July 1970 with 1,300 students. The first one year Hindi Prabodh course was started on 1st January, 1969 with 747 students, while its second session was started in January-February, 1970 admitting 328 students. The first one-year Hindi Praveen was started in January-February, 1970 with an enrolment of 428 students. Hindi Pragya and Hindi Parichaya courses are proposed to be introduced from 1971.

7.18. Free Gifts of Hindi Books: Operated by the CHD, free gifts of Hindi books are made to schools, colleges, public institutions and libraries in the non-Hindi-speaking states. Under the scheme 180 titles worth Rs. 84,000 were purchased in 1969-70. 20,712 copies of these titles were distributed among various institutions and libraries, etc. Out of the entries received under this scheme during 1970-71 copies of 636 Hindi books and 17 periodicals were purchased, at a total cost of Rs. 2.05,577 and distributed to selected centres in the country and abroad.

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7.19. Hindi Information Centre: A Hindi Information Centre has been working since 1965 in the CHD to provide authentic information pertaining to various aspects of Hindi language and literature. A telephone service for prompt supply of Hindi equivalents of technical terms to the general public and government offices was also started in October, 1968. The service is gaining popularity.

7.20. Extension Programmes: Initiated under the Second Plan, the scheme, operated by the CHD, has since been revised; it includes:

(i) Workshops for Hindi writers of non-Hindi prose and poetry;

(ii) Study tours of Hindi students in non-Hindi areas; and

(iii) Lecture tours of Hindi scholars from Hindi- speaking areas to non-Hindi-speaking areas and vice versa.

Two workshops for Hindi writers of non-Hindi-speaking areas were held at Bangalore and Gauhati in January an February, 1971.

7.21. Devanagari Script Reform: Devanagari script has been standardized and modified by introducing special symbols and diacritical marks for expressing peculiar sounds of regional languages for which no symbols exist in Devanagari.

7.22. Hindi Encyclopaedia: The Twelfth Volume of the Hindi Encyclopaedia was brought out by the Nagari Pracharini Sabha, Varanasi, completing the project of preparing and publishing the 12- volume Hindi Encyclopaedia. The Ministry gave a total grant of Rs. 15.30 lakh to the Sabha for the purpose. Certain volumes of the encyclopaedia having gone out of print, a provision of Rs. 50,000 has been made in the budget for 1971-72, towards the cost of reprinting them.

7.23. CHD Projects on Dictionaries and Grammar: Several projects on various kinds of dictionaries and Hindi grammar,

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followed and promoted by the CHD, are at various stages of completion as indicated below:

(i) A revised edition of "A Basic Grammar of Modern Hindi", is expected to be released shortly.

(ii) An English-Hindi Dictionary compiled by the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Allahabad, has been published.

(iii) A Marathi-Hindi Dictionary compiled by the Maharashtra Rashtrabhasha Sabha, Poona, is expected to be out shortly.

(iv) A revised and enlarged edition of Hindi- English Dictionary containing 20,000 words is under preparation.

(v) The manuscript of Hindi-Bangla Kosh compiled by Shri Govind Prasad Maiti has been purchased-at a cost of Rs. 10,000 for use in the preparation of trilingual dictionaries.

(vi) Work on a Dictionary of Hindi Usage (Prayog Kosh) is in the process of preparation in the CHD.

(vii) The revision of glossaries of words common to Hindi and other Indian languages will be taken up with the help of outside experts and agencies during the coming year.

(viii) The preparation of 4 trilingual dictionaries, namely, Hindi-Tamil-English, Hindi- Telugu-English, Hindi-Malayalam-English and Hindi- Kannada-English has been taken up with the help of academic bodies.

7.24. Bhartiya Sahitya Mala: To provide supplementary material for those appearing in various Hindi examinations and to facilitate availability of literary writings in modern Indian languages into Hindi, the CHD undertook the publication of (i) a short history of Indian literature, and (ii) a collection of short stories in each of the 15 Indian languages translated into Hindi and transliterated into amplified Devanagari script. While the

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manuscript of the first project was ready for the press, that of the, second was under preparation.

7.25. Preparation, Publication and Translation of Hindi Books in Collaboration with Publishers: Started in 1963 by the CHD, 125 books have so far been published under this scheme. 29 books were brought out during the year. 17,256 copies of books purchased under this scheme were distributed during the period April-December, 1970. During 1971-72, it is expected that nearly 30 books will be brought out under this scheme.

7.26. Translation of Non-Statutory Procedural Literature, Manuals, Codes, Forms, etc.: During April-December, 1970, 130 manuals and 965 forms involving 15,500 standard pages of non-statutory procedural literature were received for translation into Hindi, and Hindi translation of 10 manuals and 564 forms (1,100 st. pages) were received for vetting. Out of them, 65 manuals and 840 forms (8500 st. pages) were finalised and 12 manuals and 570 forms (1000 st. pages) were vetted and returned to the respective Ministries/departments/offices of the Government of India. The Directorate also undertook the translation of audit reports, appropriation accounts and financial accounts of the Centre and five Hindi-speaking states. In all, 31 books were received and returned duly translated. Two manuals from the Accountant General, Bihar, and 2 from Rajasthan were also translated into Hindi. 2 books containing forms pertaining to office of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India were also translated into Hindi. In addition, reports pertaining to P. & T. (1969-70), Defence (1969-70), Delhi Development Authority (1969-70) and Appropriation Accounts pertaining to Defence (1969-70) and P. & T. (1969-70) were also returned duly translated during January-February, 1971. Hindi translation of Audit Reports (1971) and Appropriation Accounts (1969-70) was expected to be completed by the end of February, 1971.

7.27. Propagation of Hindi Abroad: A detailed scheme for the propagation of Hindi abroad was approved it 1970-71. The main features of the scheme include supply of Hindi books

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to countries like Nepal, Carribean Islands, etc., through our missions in those countries; maintenance of Hindi lecturers in such countries to undertake propagation and promotion of Hindi and to look after Hindi schools and Hindi teaching; promotion of Hindi teaching through professors of Indian studies maintained by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations in countries like Yugoslavia, Iran, Australia, Rumania, West Indies and Ceylon;, scholarships to foreigners to learn Hindi in India; and facilitating visits of foreign Hindi scholars and writers to this country. Hindi lecturers in the Carribean Islands, namely, Surinam, Guyana and Trinidad, formerly appointed by the ICCR continued during the year. Theirs was a commendable performance. Working in collaboration with the Hindi Education Board of Trinidad and Tobago, the lecturer in Trinidad looks after 30 Hindi schools and teaches Hindi to students of advance course. The lecturer in Surinam was able to introduce Hindi in more than 90 schools out of which 54 work as Hindi teaching and examining centres, according to the syllabus of the Rashtra Bhasha Prachar Samiti, Wardha. With his efforts, a Hindi printing press has also been started. In Guyana, arrangements for teaching Hindi have been introduced in almost all the schools of the territory. During the year, Hindi books were purchased for supplying to Hindi libraries in Guyana, Surinam, Trinidad, Fiji, Thailand, Ceylon, Malaysia, Kenya, etc.