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New Delhi:
External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna today said in the Parliament
that efforts are underway to make Hindi an official language of the
United Nations.
"We are taking active measures to make
Hindi an official language at UN. A high level committee is looking
into it," IANS quoted Krishna as saying in the Rajya Sabha.
Krishna was replying to a
supplementary question in the Upper House.
Denying that any financial constraints were blocking the way for
pushing the issue, Krishna said India was consistently lobbying with
other countries to seek their support in backing Hindi as an
official language in UN.
"It is not a question of expenditure.
We will have to get majority in numbers," he said.
Stating that the efforts being made by India were emerging fruitful,
Krishna said UN is producing a weekly programme in Hindi which is
available on the organisation's website and also broadcast on All
India Radio.
At the same time Krishna urged the
Non-resident Indians to come forward to press the cause.
Procedurally, the UN General Assembly
(the legislative body of the UN) would need to adopt a resolution by
a majority of the 192 member states. After this stage, India, as the
proposing country, would need to provide sufficient financial
resources to the UN to cover the additional expenditure related to
interpretation, translation, printing and duplication of documents
and related infrastructural costs. This, according to conservative
estimates, could cost in excess of US $ 14 million per year, he
informed.
Adding another official language also
entails a significant increase in the budget of the UN (personnel,
equipment, and other recurring costs). All member states have to
proportionately bear a share of this reapportioned payment. Member
states have generally been reluctant to support proposals that have
an additional financial burden.
He informed that nine World Hindi
Conferences have been organized so far by the Government of India,
the latest of which was held on 8 January 2010. These Conferences
call upon NRIs and overseas Indians to assist in the promotion and
propagation of Hindi language and literature abroad.
In addition, a World Hindi Secretariat has been set up in Mauritius
since 11 February 2008 to promote Hindi as an international
language. Financial and administrative support for the secretariat
is provided by the governments of India and Mauritius.
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