CHAPTER-XIV
14.1
For proper implementation of the official language policy as well as
provisions of the Official Language Act, 1963 and Rules made thereunder and for
doing translation work from Hindi to English and vice versa, there is a Hindi
Section in the Ministry.
14.2
In pursuance of Rule 10(4) of the Official Language Rules, 1976 the
Ministry was notified on 5.1.1978 as an office of the Central Government whose
staff has acquired working knowledge of Hindi.
14.3
Under Section 3(3) of the Official Language Act, 1963 it is mandatory
that both Hindi and English versions be used for certain purposes specified
therein. Use of Hindi is obligatory
for certain purposes under the various provisions of the Act. To ensure that the
papers are issued bilingually or in Hindi only, a check point has been set up in
the General Section (issue section) in the Ministry.
14.4
An Official Language Implementation Committee has been set up to ensure
the proper implementation of the official language policy in the Ministry.
During the period under report, five meetings of the implementation committee
were held on 20.3.2003, 26.5.2003, 29.8.2003, 19.11.2003 and 11.2.2004
respectively.
14.5 To advise the Ministry on matters
relating to the progressive use of Hindi and for implementation of the official
language policy, there is a Hindi salahkar samiti in the Ministry.
The tenure of the previous Samiti expired on July 18, 2002.
During the period under report, the new Hindi salahkar samiti was
constituted on May 9, 2003. After its constitution a meeting of the Samiti was held on
October 9, 2003.
14.6
The Department of Official Lanugage awards the Indira Gandhi Rajbhasha
Shield every year to those ministries/departments of government of India which
are adjudged best for implementation of the policy of the Central government.
This Ministry was awareded the first prize (Shield) for the year
2000-2001 which was received by the Secretary, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
from the Hon'ble Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs, Shri Lal
Krishan Advani in a function held at Vigyan Bhawan on September 14, 2003.
14.7
To keep a constant watch on the use of Hindi in the Ministry for various
official purposes, a programme has been chalked out to inspect all the sections
of the Ministry. During the year under report, inspection of all the sections
was carried out to assess the progress made in the use of Hindi in the Ministry.
14.8
'Hindi Fortnight' was celebrated in the Ministry from September 1 to 15,
2003. At the time of its
inauguration, an appeal was made to the officers/employees of the Ministry to do
more and more work in Hindi. During the fortnight, two competitions were held on
the spot viz. (i) noting-drafting competition and (ii) Hindi typing competition.
14.9
It being government holiday on September 14, 2003 i.e. the 'Hindi Diwas',
the closing ceremony of the Hindi Fortnight was held on September 15, 2003.
In the function, prizes were awarded to winners of various competitions.
Under the scheme of cash prize on noting-drafting, two employees were
awarded cash prizes – one first prize of Rs.1000/- and one second prize of
Rs.600/-. Three employees were
awarded prizes in the form of books worth (Rs.500/- (first prize), Rs.300/-
(second prize) and Rs.200/- (third prize) for the on the spot noting-drafting
competition held during the Hindi Fortnight.
Three employees were awarded cash prizes of Rs. 300/- (first prize),
Rs.200/- (second prize) and Rs.100/- (third prize) for the Hindi typing
competition.
14.10
There are 12 sections in the Ministry.
Out of these, six sections are doing cent-percent work in Hindi and the
rest of the six sections are doing 50 per cent of their work in Hindi.
At present the percentage of work in Hindi in all the 12 sections of the
Ministry is as follows:
1. General
Section
100%
2. Implementation
I Section
100%
3. Implementation
II Section
100%
4. Hindi
Section
100%
5. Administration
Section
100%
6. Legislative II
Section
100%
7. R & C
Section
50%
8. P & W
Section
50%
9. Committee
Section
50%
10. Legislative I
Section
50%
11. M.E. Section
50%
12. A & P
Section
50%
14.11
To encourage the use of Hindi in the Ministry, four Hindi workshops were
organised during the period under report. The first workshop was held from March
17 to March 28, 2003, second from June 11 to June 20, 2003, third
from September 2 to 11, 2003 and the fourth from January 12 to 21,
2004. In these workshops 35
employees were imparted training on noting and drafting in Hindi.