Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has criticised the Union government for what he described as the growing practice of using Hindi words written in English script in the titles of Bills introduced in Parliament. He said this trend is unfair to non-Hindi-speaking citizens and states.
In a post on X, the former Union minister said such titles make it difficult for many people to identify, understand or even pronounce the names of Bills and Acts. “I am opposed to the increasing practice of the government using Hindi words written in English letters in the title of Bills introduced in Parliament,” Chidambaram said.
He pointed out that for nearly 75 years, Parliament followed a clear and simple practice. English titles were used in the English version of the Bills, while Hindi titles appeared in the Hindi version. According to him, this system worked smoothly and never created any problems.
“When no one found fault with this long standing practice, why change it now?” he asked.
Chidambaram said the shift ignores India’s linguistic diversity and shows disregard for states where Hindi is not the official language. He also expressed concern that this move could weaken the long-standing assurance that English would continue as an Associate Official Language of the country.
“Successive governments have repeatedly assured this. I fear that this promise is now in danger of being broken,” the Congress MP said.
