New Delhi, September 14: Hindi Diwas is being celebrated across the country and world on Friday. Because it was on this day, 1949, that the Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi written in Devanagari script as the official language of the Republic of India. Hindi Diwas 2018: History, Significance of The Day; Is Hindi Losing Its Relevance to English Today?

Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu, speaking on the occasion of Hindi Diwas said that primary education should be taught in one's mother tongue and that it was not possible to progress in the country without the knowledge of Hindi language. Hindi Mother Tongue of 44% Indians, Bangla in the Second Place & Sanskrit Becomes the Least Spoken Language.

Venkaiah Naidu was the chief guest at the Hindi Diwas function which is organised annually by the Union Home Ministry of India.

During the event, Vice President of India said English was an “illness” left behind by the British. "When I was young, I participated in anti-Hindi protests. Later, I realised it was not possible to progress without Hindi. I came to Delhi, spoke in broken Hindi but was accepted by all," he added.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh was also present at the event. "When the Chinese President came here he spoke in his mother tongue. The Iranian President, a P.hd in English, also spoke in his mother tongue when he was here. One should never forget their mother tongue," he said while promoting the Hindi language.

PM Narendra Modi suggested that Hindi-speaking people should learn one language from the South and those from South should learn from the North.

"Bank and railway officials speak in English. Those who come to them don't know the language. You should speak in a language that people know, we have not made any effort in this regard" he said.

In the event, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu also gave away the Rajbhasha Awards to chiefs of various departments, offices and ministeries for their outstanding performances in promoting the Hindi language.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 14, 2018 02:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).