Gurugram: Haryana’s higher education department has directed that all official correspondence addressed to State Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda be drafted exclusively in Hindi.
The order, issued Tuesday by department Director General S. Narayanan, was outlined in a letter to principals of all government colleges was itself written in Hindi and titled, “Uchchtar shiksha vibhag se sambandhit sabhi misl/patra maanniye shiksha mantri, Haryana ko Hindi mein prastut kiye jaane barey.” (Regarding presentation of all records, letters to the Honourable Education Minister in Hindi).
Narayanan highlighted that most documents submitted to the department are in English, despite Hindi being the dominant language in Haryana.
“Across states, official communication reflects the regional language. Henceforth, all files for the Honourable Education Minister must be in Hindi,” the letter said, emphasising that the language that is spoken in each state is given “preference” as the medium of official communication.
The letter further warned of “strict action” for violations.
While the directive did not give details on what kind of documents it applies to, it is expected to affect all files that require the minister’s approval.
ThePrint reached out to Dhanda and Narayanan for comment through calls and messages. The report will be updated if and when a response is received.
The directive gained further momentum Wednesday when Dhanda, addressing a press conference in Kurukshetra to mark 11 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, announced that university vice-chancellors in Haryana would now be called “kulgurus” to promote Hindi terminology. The term, he said, was also gender neutral since vice-chancellor is translated as “kulpati” in Hindi.
A senior official in the higher education department, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the move was justified. “Haryana is a Hindi heartland. States like Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh use Hindi for official work, and Punjab mandates Punjabi. This policy strengthens our linguistic roots.”
However, the mandate has stirred debate and concerns. A principal from a government college in Rohtak, requesting anonymity, said, “Promoting Hindi is fine, but mandating it with threats is overreach. In higher education, English is critical for subjects like science and commerce. Translating terms like ‘algorithm’ or ‘fiscal policy’ into Hindi risks confusion.”
He added that English terms like “college” are more familiar to locals than “mahavidhyalaya.”
Meanwhile, the department’s own website, which, along with most notices, remains in English.
A linguistics professor at a state university in Haryana, declining to be named, noted, “While Hindi promotion is culturally significant, a bilingual approach would better serve academic precision and inclusivity.”
The directive comes amid a tussle between the Centre and various states on the implementation of the three-language policy under the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. Non-Hindi states have accused it of trying to impose Hindi.
Mahabir Jaglan, a former professor of geography from Kurukshetra University said Hindi cannot be promoted by taking ad-hoc decisions like communicating with a minister.
“For promoting Hindi, it has to develop as a language of research and development so that in longer term a scientific vocabulary is developed. In recent examinations for selecting assistant professors HPSC question papers used google for Hindi translation. In the geography paper for this examination an oceanic current called California Current was translated as California Vartamaan,” he revealed.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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Why? Is the “honourable” minister illiterate as far as English is concerned?
No wonder Haryana’s educational infrastructure and quality is abysmal. The priorities of the education ministry are grossly misplaced.