A grand event was organized by the Rajbhasha Vibhag of the Ministry of Home Affairs at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the Rajbhasha Vibhag.    Approximately 8,000 officials and Hindi enthusiasts from across the country, affiliated with both government and non-governmental organizations, participated in the event. Inauguration of the program was done by Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah. He stated that Hindi, by adopting the vocabulary of other Indian languages, is emerging as a powerful language in the domains of knowledge, science, commerce, and administration. To promote the work of translation and bring Indian languages closer, the Rajbhasha Vibhag has established a separate wing. It is also engaged in the creation of the 'Shabd Sindhu' dictionary.

Prominent guests present at the event included Delhi's Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Vice President of the Parliamentary Hindi Language Committee Bhartrihari Mahtab, MP Sudhanshu Trivedi, and Sudha Murthy, among others.

During this grand event, Rajbhasha Vibhag of different organizations set up stalls to showcase innovations related to the Hindi language. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also visited these exhibition stalls. The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) displayed four types of exhibitions at a single stall. The topics covered were rare ancient periodicals, ancient printed books, manuscripts related to science, literature, and art, and a compilation of the views expressed by the members of the Constituent Assembly regarding Hindi. The booklet on the latter was distributed free of cost. The first three exhibitions were digitally displayed on three screens. These were created after extensive research by the academic and Rajbhasha Vibhag of the Centre.

At this unique stall by IGNCA, Union Home Minister Amit Shah took time to inspect the exhibitions for about four to five minutes, showing deep interest. Professor Arun Bhardwaj provided detailed information to the Home Minister about the centre's Hindi-related activities and the specific features of the exhibitions. On this occasion, Prof. Arun Bhardwaj also gifted three books authored by the Centre's President, Ram Bahadur Rai to Home Minister Amit Shah.

A large number of Hindi enthusiasts visited the IGNCA stall. Approximately 1,000 to 1,200 people visited the exhibition, and 150 people shared their opinions in the register.

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Sunil Kumar Tiwari

pibculture[at]gmail[dot]com