The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal attended the 83rd convocation of Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha, Madras and delivered the convocation address at the Mahatma Gandhi Convocation Hall. The event was presided over by Chief Guest Shri V Muraleedharan, President of the Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha, Madras. It was graced by almost 8000 students who received their Praveen and Visharad examinations and rank holders from Madras were felicitated.
Amongst others who participated included members of the Executive Committee, Academic Council as well the Governing Body from all southern states. Five senior Hindi pracharaks who have made great contributions to the propagation of Hindi in the southern states were felicitated on the occasion. Moreover, four litterateurs from each of the southern languages Tamil, Telegu, Kannada and Malayalam were also honored making it symbolic of Gandhi Ji’s integrationist vision. Amongst other felicitations at the event, MA, M.Phil, PhD, B.Ed and PG Diploma students were administered the oath of allegiance by Shri P Obaiah, Chairman of the Shiksha Parishad, DBHP Sabha.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister Sonowal shed light on the historic role played by Hindi in the integration of the country, something that Gandhi Ji always emphasized on. He also spoke on how Hindi has never been hostile to any of its regional counterparts accepting each one of them. Rather, Hindi has only enriched other regional languages.
Shri Sonowal also stated that we as Indians must strive to work towards making Hindi a global language for which he exhorted the youth to contribute in the most meaningful fashion.