Mumbai, February 11: Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, is on the verge of becoming a Hindi-speaking city as a major chunk of the population in the city are migrants speaking the Hindi language. The number of people speaking Hindi in the city is on the rise majorly because of demographic changes caused by migration. A 2011 census report on the mother tongue of residents in Mumbai states that respondents who identified Hindi to be their mother tongue had grown by over 40 per cent. Hindi Becomes the Third Official Court Language of Abu Dhabi.

According to a report by Indian Express, the census report stated that the number of Hindi-speaking people witnessed a surge from 25.88 lakh to 35.98 lakh in Mumbai over the years. On the other hand, the number of respondents who said Marathi is their mother tongue, fell by 2.64 per cent from 45.23 lakh in 2001 to 44.04 lakh. However, individuals who claim Marathi to be their mother tongue still comprise the largest group in the city followed by Hindi, Urdu and Gujarati. Hindi is 8th Most Searched Language for Learning in the World, Reveals Google on European Day of Languages 2018.

According to reports, the number of people who claim Marathi to be their mother tongue witnessed a sharp dip from a total of 45.24 lakh in 2001 to 44.04 lakh in 2011. During the same time, the number of Gujarati speakers saw a drop from 14.34 lakh in 2001 to 14.28 lakh in 2011. The number of Urdu speakers fell from 16.87 lakh in 2001 to 14.59 lakh in 2011.

In Maharashtra, Thane and Raigad district showed a 80 per cent increase in the number of Hindi-speaking residents over the last few years. The migrants are majorly from areas like Konkan, Western Maharashtra, parts of Gujarat and parts of Goa, the report stated. The Indian Express report further stated that over the last 40 years, the closure of textile mills and the growth across the city have changed the migration pattern considerably and the migrants into the city were largely from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 11, 2019 02:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).