SHILLONG: Rajya Sabha MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi, who is on a two-day visit to the city, said on Wednesday there was no question of imposing Hindi language on the people of the country.
Chaturvedi, who heads the Parliamentary Rajbhasa Committee set up by the Centre, told media persons in the city that the Government of India, for the last 60-70 years, has been trying to encourage people to learn the language but “it is not forcing” them.
Claiming that the number of Hindi-speaking people has increased in the North East, the MP added that situation in the region has changed as more and more students go outside for studies and realise that they need to learn their own language besides English.
“They get more opportunities and jobs and when they come here they also try to speak in Hindi language,” he said.
Chaturvedi said that there was resistance to learn Hindi language earlier but “now people are keen to learn the language”.
“English is not our mother tongue and we don’t learn it from the womb but go to school for 10-12 years and if we can learn English, which is a foreign language, why can’t we learn Hindi which is our own language,” he told reporters.
He also said the target is to see cent percent people learning Hindi language in regions which are familiar with Hindi and the target in NE and other regions like south India is 55 per cent.
Chaturvedi is in the city to inspect four central government organizations — BSF Meghalaya, NEPA, Military Engineering Services and North East Regional Institute of Education.
