LANGUAGES
During the year under report, the work of the promotion and development of Hindi and other Modern Indian Languages and Sanskrit, in addition to English and other foreign languages, continued to be carried out according to plan. The various activities and programmes undertaken for the promotion of these languages are indicated below:-
Spread and Development of, Hindi and Promotion of Modern, Indian
Languages The different schemes and programmes relating to the spread and development of Hindi, the promotion of Modern Indian Languages and the improvement of Foreign Languages Teaching continued to be operated and the pace and tempo of the work of previous years were maintained.
Promotion of Sanskrit The expanded activities towards the promotion of Sanskrit gathered further momentum during the period under report. Voluntary Sanskrit organisations and Gurukulas, in addition to State Governments and Union Territory Administrations received financial assistance for their schemes to develop and promote Sanskrit studies. The Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan continued to conduct various examinations and produced publications in, Sanskrit.
Spread and Development of Hindi
Teaching of Hindi in the Non-Hindi speaking States The Ministry continued to provide facilities for the teaching of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking States by: (i) providing financial assistance to the non-Hindi speaking States in appointing Hindi teachers in their schools and providing such assistance for the training of their Hindi teachers; (ii) awarding scholarships to students belonging to non-Hindi speaking States for the study of Hindi beyond the stage of, matriculation; (iii) encouraging voluntary institutions to hold Hindi teaching classes through financial assistance; (iv) providing funds to the Central Hindi Directorate for continuing and expanding its programme of Hindi correspondence courses; and (v) organising research on the methodology of teaching Hindi to different mother-tongue groups and allied matters through the Kendriya Hindi Sansthan, Agra.
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Financial Assistance to Non-Hindi Speaking States
Appointment of Hindi Teachers in Non-Hindi Speaking States During the year under report, the budgetted provision of Rs. 130 lakhs has been utilised for giving grants to the various non-Hindi Speaking States/Union Territories for making payment to 2200 teachers appointed during 1974-75 and 1300 fresh teachers during 1975-76. The scheme will be continued next year with the appointment of more Hindi teachers.
Establishment of Hindi Teachers Training Wings in the Non-Hindi
Speaking States The scheme has been continued in the Fifth Five Year Plan. 16 Hindi Teachers Training Colleges are already in existence. Two new Teachers' Colleges/Wings in Manipur and Mizoram were sanctioned during 1974-75. Both these Colleges/Wings started functioning during 1975- 76. Approval was accorded during 1975-76 for the opening of two more Training Colleges/ Inservice Training Centres at Warrangal (A.P.) and Trivandrum respectively.
Award of Scholarships for the Study of Hindi About 2,000 scholarships are expected to be awarded during the year under report for the study of Hindi at the postmatric stage for students belonging to non-Hindi speaking States. There is a provision of Rs. 30 lakhs for the scheme in 1975-76. By the end of the Fifth Plan, it is proposed to increase the number of scholarships to about 2500 per year.
Financial Assistance to Voluntary Hindi Organisations During the year 1975-76, grants amounting to over Rs. 17 lakhs are expected to be given to Voluntary Hindi Organisations for the spread and development of Hindi. These organisations have been running classes for teaching Hindi in the non-Hindi speaking States. The organisations running Hindi Typewriting Classes and Hindi Libraries, continued to render useful service.
Hindi through Correspondence Courses During the year under report, 6186 students were taught Hindi through correspondence courses. The correspondence courses offered are Hindi Pravesh and Hindi Parichaya which are of two years duration each, the former being an elementary and the latter an advanced course. These courses are intended for those non-Hindi speaking Indians and foreigners, who have not been able to study Hindi due to lack of time or facilities in schools
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and colleges. This schemes has met with notable success. An, amount of Rs. 1.60 lakhs has been earned in foreign exchange since the commencement of the scheme in 1968. Besides these two general courses the Directorate also offers special courses like Prabodh, Praveen and Pragya for the benefit of those Central Government Employees who cannot take advantage of the, facilities offered by the Hindi teaching scheme of the Department of Official Language.
Since teaching through correspondence courses does not afford direct contact with the students, the Directorate undertakes personal contact programmes in different parts of the country to train students in correct pronunciation and conversation etc. The Directorate has also prepared lingua records of a set of 32 lessons made up of 16 discs which have proved very popular both in the country and abroad. Self taught help books like Bilingual conversational guides and Hindi primers have been published to help the students and tourists in day- to-day conversation in Hindi.
KENDRIYA HINDI SANSTHAN, AGRA
(CENTRAL INSTITUTE OF HINDI, AGRA)
Research and Material Production The Sansthan has taken up preparation on scientific lines, the Hindi teaching materials and aids for use by students of 1000 primary schools in the different linguistic regions of the, country. The Sansthan has also prepared instructional and teaching material for Hindi basic course for English speakers, Hindi script books, bilingual textbooks. phonetic readers, translation exercises, collections of Hindi poems and prose, etc. Phonetic lessons with tapes for the students of Nagaland, Mizoram, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Orissa were also Prepared. Preparation of teaching materials such as Hindi readers, Hindi glossary, grammar. desk books and Hindi composition for class IV to VI students' of Mizoram and Nagaland was also taken up during the year under report. In addition, special material for intensive Hindi teaching courses for bank officers and air-hostesses was prepared. The Sansthan has also been working on the projects of compiling Tamil-English-Hindi, Hindi-Sindhi-English and Sindhi-Hindi- English dictionaries at the instance of the Central Hindi Directorate.
Advanced Training Fourteen teachers took the Nishnat (equivalent to M.Ed.) examination from the Institute in 1975. Besides, 73 Hindi teachers from non-Hindi speaking areas attended the Paramod
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(equivalent to B.Ed.) course of the Sansthan. The Sansthan continued to give training to teachers under the schemes of (i) Intensive Hindi teaching-cum-training course for trained graduate teachers of subjects others than Hindi; (ii) specialised intensive Hindi teaching-cum- training course for the untrained teachers of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland and (iii) Short-term orientation courses for university and school teachers.
Activities at New Delhi Campus During the year under report, 100 officials were trained in the New Delhi Campus. 120 officials of the Institute of Secretariat Training and Management took the one month intensive training course conducted by the Sansthan. 28 foreigners including eight foreigners who came to India under the Scheme for Propagation of Hindi Abroad attended the Hindi Courses meant for them. The Sansthan also conducted a summer language programme (an improvement course for Hindi Learners) and a diploma course in applied linguistic.
Other activities The Universities of Agra and Mysore have accorded recognition to the Sansthan as their research centre. Following this 12 persons are carrying on their research for Ph.D. degrees of the: aforesaid Universities under the guidance of the Sansthan. One American student has been deputed to the Sansthan by the University of Wisconsin to carry on her research on "A Metrico-Linguistic Study of the Structure of Traditional Narrative Poetry of Hindi". A Japanese professor from Osaka University is also working on a project of compilation of Hindi- Japanese and Japanese-Hindi dictionaries.
The Sansthan published a number of useful Hindi books, and organised essay and elocution contests in Hindi on an all-India 'basis. Two seminars on 'India Bilingualism' and Functional Hindi (Second Session) and three extension lectures on topics "Hindi as an official language", "Language in social contact" and "Child and the development of language" are to be organised. The Sansthan continued to extend its expert assistance to Hindi teaching and training institutions in the country.
Award of Prizes to Hindi Writers of Non-Hindi Speaking Areas To encourage writers belonging to non-Hindi speaking areas to write in Hindi also, the Ministry continued its scheme of awarding prizes to such writers for quality books written by them in Hindi. During the year under report 13 first prizes of Rs. 1,000/each and 3 second prizes of Rs. 500/- each have been awarded.
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Evolution of Scientific and Technical Terminology and Preparation
of Dictionaries The Standing Commission for scientific and technical terminology was reconstituted in August, 1975. After this reconstitution the Commission took stock of the work already done in the field of preparation and dissemination of terminology in scientific and technical subjects and has formulated its future programmes. The Commission has now embarked upon a programme of publication of definitional dictionaries relating to science, social sciences and humanities, the production of digests, review journals and monographs in various subjects, compliation of trilingual dictionaries, the publication of bilingual pocket dictionaries as also a dictionary containing meanings in all Indian languages. The project for the preparation of bilingual pocket dictionaries of Hindi and each Indian language has been undertaken in pursuance of a decision taken by the Kendriya Hindi Samiti. 16,000 Hindi words have been selected out of which 1,000 will be finally chosen by the experts for these pocket dictionaries. The Directorate is also working on the publication of a Hindi-English administrative glossary containing 8,000 entries for which there was a good deal of demand in Government offices. The press copy of 45,000 words of civil, mechanical and electrical engineering has been prepared and is being sent to the Press. 1500 definitions towards the compilation of denitional glossary in all the science subjects are also nearing completion. Work on the preparation of Hindi-German and German-Hindi dictionaries progressed during the year and 21,000 entries for the Hindi-German Dictionary were selected and sent to the G.D.R. Work on the compilation of definitional dictionaries, a revised and enlarged edition of Hindi-English Dictionary as also revised and enlarged glossaries of words common to Hindi and other Indian languages registered further strides during the year.
Popular Books in Hindi The Central Hindi Directorate is implementing a scheme of preparation, translation and publication of Popular Hindi books in collaboration with private publishers. This scheme is intended to foster the values of National Integration. Secularism and Humanism, besides the dissemination of scientific knowledge and the promotion of a scientific temper. The books published under this scheme are also Intended to improve the general knowledge of the laymen particularly in the context of growing modern knowledge. During the year under report 20 books are being published besides 8 which are ready for being Sent to the Press.
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Encouragement and Guidance to Non-Hindi speaking Students and
Writers of Hindi With a view to reaching out to those non-Hindi speaking. people who are studying Hindi/or are trying to write in Hindi, the Central Hindi Directorate is implementing several extension programmes. Under the programme of organisation of workshops for Neo-Hindi writers belonging to non-Hindi speaking areas, 4 workshops have been planned to encourage Hindi writers of non-Hindi areas engaged in creative writing through intensive orientation and through acquainting them with the latest trends in literature. This programme also affords opportunities to the non-Hindi speaking: Hindi writers to come into contact with their counterparts elsewhere in the country.
Besides this programme, the Directorate has also planned 10 lecture tours of Hindi scholars. Of these 10, five scholars from the universities of non-Hindi areas would lecture in the Hindi speaking areas and vice-versa. This programme, in addition to encouraging creative writing has also proved to be effective in bringing about emotional integration in the country. The Central Hindi Directorate also arranges educational tours of those students who are studying in B.A. and M.A. Hindi. Two such tours have been planned during the year and over 100 students from non-Hindi speaking areas would be taken to the universities in the Hindi areas.
There are other non-Hindi speaking people who are pursuing post- graduate or research courses in Hindi in the non-Hindi speaking universities. They require special help in their research work and to facilitate their contact with Libraries and Universities as also the scholars in the Hindi speaking areas, they are given travel grants. During the year under report, 20 Hindi research scholars of non-Hindi speaking areas will be given such grants.
Propagation of Hindi abroad Under the Scheme, Hindi books worth about Rs. one lakh were purchased during the year under report for distribution abroad with a view to providing reading material to those-who have already learnt Hindi. Apart from the books supplied to Indian Missions abroad, Hindi books were presented to foreign universities in Japan, Bulgaria, Republic of Korea and Thailand. Hindi typewriters would also be supplied to our Indian Missions in Prague, Fiji, Trinidad and Rangoon for the development of Hindi abroad. The Ministry continues to maintain three lecturers working in the Caribbean countries and two- part-time teachers in Sri Lanka. Two students from Mongolia, one from Fiji, one
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from Guyana and one from Cambodia who were awarded fellowships earlier returned to their countries after completing the Hindi courses at the Central Institute of Hindi, New Delhi. During the year under report, scholarships were granted to four nationals from Fiji, one from Guyana and one from Britain for studies in Hindi at the Institute. Other specific requests from any country which could lead to the promotion of Hindi are also entertained under the Scheme.
A Japanese professor from Osaka University has been awarded fellowship for 12 months to do work on a project of compilation of Hindi-Japanese and Japanese-Hindi dictionaries. It is proposed to take up the preparation of Hindi-Czech and Czech-Hindi dictionaries in cooperation with the appropriate Czech authorities under the Indo- Czech Cultural Exchange Programme.
Hindi Shiksha Samiti The Hindi Shiksha Samiti continued to guide the Ministry in the field of spread and development of Hindi.
Promotion of Modern Indian Languages
Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore The Institute was set up in 1969 primarily with the objective of promoting modern Indian languages and through this, creating an emotional empathy between the people from different regions of the subcontinent. The programmes of the Institute which are intended to foster the learning of Indian languages are aimed at facilitating the implementation of the Three-Language-Formula. The main activities are concerned with second-language teaching, research and teaching methodology of languages, preparation of teaching materials and the study of tribal languages. A brief account of the different activities is given below:
Teacher-Training During the year under review, 275 graduate teachers from 14 States and 4 Union Territories got their diplomas in April, 1975 after being trained at the Language Centres at Mysore, Poona, Bhubaneshwar, Patiala and Solan. The teaching courses enabled the teachers to teach a second language which is not their mother-tongue at the school level. At present 306 teacher trainees from 13 States and 2 Union Territories are undergoing training in 13 languages. Besides regular teaching, the Regional Language Centres held refresher courses during the
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year for the ex-teacher trainees. The Centres have also prepared several types of language learning materials for adult learners. In addition, National Integration Camps were held for children learning Malayalam, Tamil, Gujarati, Assamese and Bengali as non-mother tongue additional languages.
Preparation of Teaching Materials The Institute through its Publication Unit and Teaching Material Unit has brought out several Phonetic Reader Series, Mother-tongue Series, Grammar and Common Vocabulary Series, Phonetic Reader Series of languages like Manipuri, Lotha, Balti, Brokskat and Ladakhi have been published. Of the mother-tongue series, Kannada textbook third level, Malayalam textbook third level, Tamil textbook third level and Marathi Copy Book first level have been published. Besides the above publications, Grammar books on Ao and Mundari, Folklore Series in Telugu and Hindi, a Common Vocabulary Book in Hindi and Kashmiri have also been brought out. 14 more publications have been sent to the press during the year dealing with Indian Socio-linguistic Research, Kuvi-Folk-Literature, Kok Borok Folk Literature, Kuvi Primers, Kuvi Copy Book, Kok Borok Primer and Copy Book, Marathi Textbook Script and Teachers Manual, Telugu Textbook, etc. It is expected that the quartet levels of books on mother-tongue series some of which have already been published will be completed during the current year. The total number of books published by the Institute so far, is 120.