Efforts on to get Hindi status of official UN language: Govt

Government continues to make efforts for the acceptance of Hindi as one of the official languages of the UN and an amount of Rs 5.98 crore has been allocated in the current fiscal for the propagation of the language worldwide, Lok Sabha was told today.
Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar noted that at the last World Hindi Conference organised in Bhopal in 2015, one of the sessions was devoted to the theme 'Hindi in Foreign Policy' in which one of the recommendations reiterated was that it should be made a UN language.
"A committee has been established under the chairmanship of External Affairs Minister for implementation of this and other recommendations made at the conference. A World Hindi Secretariat has also been set up in Mauritius in February 2008, to promote Hindi as an international language," he said in a written reply.

The Government continues its efforts in popularising Hindi worldwide and for its acceptance as one of the UN official languages, Akbar said, adding in the current financial year (2016-17), an amount of Rs 5.98 crore has been allocated for the propagation of Hindi worldwide through the Diplomatic Missions/Posts of India abroad.
The UN has no specific criteria for a language to be recognised as an official language and the procedure for inclusion as an official language in the UN involves adoption of a Resolution in the UN General Assembly by a simple majority and its final passage by a two-third majority of its total membership, he said.

He also noted that on several occasions Indian leaders have delivered statements at the UN in Hindi including the Prime Minister's statement to the 69th UNGA in September 2014.