Prime Minister Narendra Modi yet again stressed the diversity of languages and scripts here on Sunday citing the example of Kalpana, a native of Uttarakhand, who learned Kannada in three months and scored 92 marks in the class 10th examination in Karnataka. He said our country is a rich treasure house of many languages, scripts and dialects. “Varied attire, cuisine and culture in different regions is our hallmark. As a nation this diversity strengthens us and keeps us united,” the Prime Minister said on Sunday in the 89th episode of his customary radio address ‘Mann Ki Baat’.
Mr. Modi added that Kalpana, who did not know the Kannada language till some time ago, learned the southern language and scored 92 marks. “Today, through her hard work, she has set an example for all of us. I congratulate Kalpana for her fortitude. Similarly, there are many people in our country who are working towards strengthening the linguistic diversity of the country,” Mr Modi said.
Prime Minister’s endorsement to diversity in languages comes at a time when the Opposition parties had recently alleged that the Centre is trying to impose Hindi on all States. They were anguished over a statement by Union Home Minister Amit Shah that Mr. Modi has decided that the medium of running the Government is the official language and this will definitely increase the importance of Hindi. He recently told the Parliamentary Official Language Committee that now the time has come to make the official language an important part of the unity of the country. “He said that when citizens of States who speak other language, communicate with each other, it should be in the language of India. Mr Shah said that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English and not to local languages. He said that unless we make Hindi flexible by accepting words from other local languages, it will not be propagated,” a Government release in April had said quoting Mr Shah.
Senior Opposition politicians, including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, had questioned this. Mr. Stalin urged the Centre not to repeat the same old mistakes. “Does Mr. Amit Shah believe that Hindi-speaking States alone are enough and that Indian States are not required? A single language will not be of use for unity. A single identity will not create unity,” he said.
The Prime Minister also said the number of unicorn startups in the country had reached the figure of 100. “The total valuation of these unicorns is more than $330 billion, that is, more than ₹25 lakh crore. Certainly, this is a matter of pride for every Indian. You will also be surprised to know that out of our total unicorns, 44 came up last year. Not only that, 14 more Unicorns were formed anew in 3-4 months this year. This means that even in this phase of the global pandemic, our start-ups have been creating wealth and value,” he said in the address.
Mentioning a gift he received from a Self-Help Group from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, he said it was a special Thanjavur Doll, which also had a GI Tag.
“Women’s Self-Help Groups stores and kiosks are also opening up in Thanjavur. Because of this, the lives of many poor families have changed. With the help of such kiosks and stores, women are now able to sell their products directly to customers. The initiative has been named ‘Tharagaigal Kaivinai Porutkal Virpanai Angadi’. The special thing is that 22 Self-Help Groups are associated with this initiative,” he said.
