Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah will address the inaugural session of Hindi Diwas 2026 and the 6th All India Official Language Conference in Mumbai on Monday, 14 September. On this occasion, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, both Deputy Chief Ministers, several Members of Parliament, distinguished guests from various fields, scholars, litterateurs, educationists, and senior officials from various departments and ministries of the Central Government will also be present. This event will also highlight the vibrant relationship of Hindi with Maharashtra’s rich linguistic, cultural, and literary traditions.

Inspired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and under the able guidance of Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah, the Department of Official Language of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been organizing All India Official Language Conferences every year since 2021. This journey, which began from Varanasi, has reached Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra this year, passing through Surat, Pune, New Delhi and Gandhinagar.

During the inaugural session of the two-day programme, the ‘Rajbhasha Gaurav’ and ‘Rajbhasha Kirti’ Awards for the year 2025–26 will be presented by the Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah. The institutions and individuals who have undertaken outstanding work and made noteworthy contributions in the field of Official Language will be honoured with these awards.

Several important books and publications will also be launched during the inaugural session and other sessions. These include a special commemorative issue of the Department of Official Language’s journal ‘Rajbhasha Bharati’, centred on the National Song ‘Vande Mataram’; ‘Bharatiya Gyan Tantra: Srot aur Swaroop’; ‘Shiv Anadi Hain, Anant Hain’; and ‘Andheron Se Ujalon Tak’, a compilation of writings by prison inmates. These publications bring forth diverse dimensions of Indian culture, knowledge tradition, literature and creative expression. Books and journals of several other organisations and institutions will also be launched.

A special attraction of this year’s Conference will be a special discussion session centred on the National Song ‘Vande Mataram’. ‘Vande Mataram’ has not merely been a song, but has been a powerful expression of India’s consciousness of freedom, national self-respect and dedication towards the motherland. In this special session, renowned playback singer Shri Hariharan, senior journalist and writer Shri Nilesh Mishra, and Shri Akhilesh Mishra, who is studying ‘Vande Mataram’, will participate in the discussion. In addition, researcher of ‘Vande Mataram’, Shri Milind Prabhakar Sabnis, will shed light on the historical, literary and cultural aspects of this National Song in another session. Shri Joydeep Chattopadhyay will also have a special presence at the programme. He is a fifth-generation descendant of Shri Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, the author of ‘Vande Mataram’. His presence will lend special historical and emotional significance to this event. Through these sessions, deliberations will be held on how ‘Vande Mataram’ gave voice to national consciousness in the Indian public mind and how its relevance has continued from the freedom movement to the present day.

A special session will also be organised at the Conference on the role of Town Official Language Implementation Committees (TOLICs/NARAKAS). NARAKAS is a strong and empowered unit that takes forward the implementation of Official Language Hindi at the grassroots level. This session will discuss and deliberate upon the work and achievements of NARAKAS and its role in Official Language implementation, and NARAKAS performing outstanding work will also be honoured.

In a special session to be held after the lunch break on 15 September, renowned lyricist and writer Shri Manoj Muntashir will be present. Shri Muntashir, who is particularly popular for his songs imbued with the spirit of patriotism and love for the nation, will share his thoughts on this occasion. This session will further enrich the cultural and emotional dignity of the Conference. Thereafter, a grand cultural programme will be organised by the Government of Maharashtra, in which diverse glimpses of Maharashtra’s rich cultural and artistic traditions will be witnessed.

A special exhibition is also being organised at the Conference venue, in which stalls will be put up by various institutions, organisations, banks and ministries. A total of 32 stalls, including two special stalls of the Government of Maharashtra, and stalls of the Department of Official Language and the Publications Division, will be set up at the exhibition venue. Through these stalls, the work, publications, initiatives and achievements of various institutions relating to Hindi and Indian languages will be displayed.

During the two-day Conference, deliberations will be held on various subjects related to the development of Hindi as the Official Language, people’s language and link language; its coordination with Indian languages; technology and language; translation; literature; and the wider dissemination of Hindi.

The Article 343 of the Constitution provides for Hindi in Devanagari script as the Official Language of the Union, while Article 351 places upon the Union the responsibility for the promotion, development and enrichment of Hindi. The Department of Official Language is continuously working towards the discharge of these constitutional responsibilities. In this sequence, the Sixth All India Official Language Conference being organised will provide an opportunity to further strengthen coordination, dialogue and partnership among all Indian languages along with Hindi.

****

RK/RR/RKB/PS/PR