Hindi the symbol of India's social, cultural unity: Pranab

President Pranab Mukherjee Saturday said that Hindi is the symbol of India's social and cultural unity and efforts should be made to encourage its use.

Presenting awards instituted by the Department of Official Language of the home ministry for 2013-14 at a function here, the president said that efforts should be made to "maximize" the use of Hindi.

"In a vast country like India, where many languages are spoken, Hindi has its own special position. It is the symbol of our social and cultural unity and is the main connecting language between the people," the president said.

He said Hindi has a a significant role in connecting the government with the people as well.

Mukherjee also said that social welfare schemes and programmes should reach people in the regional language to ensure their success.

"Therefore, Hindi and other Indian languages should be used in a manner that the information and benefit of development schemes can easily reach the common man," he added.

Mukherjee expressed happiness that use of Hindi is gaining popularity in various media platforms such as the internet, mobile and other tools of information technology.

He complimented the Department of Official Language for organising the function and hoped that the awards would further encourage people to use Hindi.