(a) whether the Union Government has made knowledge of Hindi language and Office Hindi module compulsory for all officers posted in all the Indian missions abroad;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether Hindi training is mandatorily imparted to all personal assistants before their foreign posting; and
(d) if so, the details in this regard along with the date from which such order has been implemented?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
(GEN. (DR) V. K. SINGH (RETD))
(a) to (d) Like other All India Services, Officers of Indian Foreign Service are imparted compulsory training in Hindi in Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. After joining the Indian Foreign Service these officers are imparted training in the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) as well. All training modules at FSI have Hindi as an integral element and there are mandatory sessions on Official Language.
The training is not only imparted to all the trainees at FSI but also relayed over online platform of webinar to our Missions and Posts abroad updating all with the latest tools in use of Hindi.
Hindi training is given to all the Officers and staff including Personal Assistants.
As per the Rule 10(4) of Official Language Rules, 1976 if more than 80% officers/ employees of an office acquire working knowledge of Hindi, then the said office is notified. In line with this, Ministry of External Affairs is notified since April 1987. Work in Hindi language in the Ministry is progressively increasing. All Administrative circulars, Notifications, Parliament Questions, Agreements, MOUs, Treaties and documents that are presented to the Parliament are prepared bilingually. Website of the Ministry is bilingual which is updated regularly. With an objective to increase the progressive use of Official Language Hindi in the Ministry, Hindi workshops are organized at the Headquarters from time to time. Officers from the Official Language Department are also invited as guest speakers in the said workshops and officers/employees are not only acquainted with the Official Language Policy but also imparted knowledge regarding and noting drafting in Hindi language on computers.