Agartala, Feb 19 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate the Joint Regional Official Language Conference (Rajbhasha Sammelan) of the Eastern, North-Eastern and Northern regions of the country in Agartala on Friday, officials said here on Thursday.

The Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) Department of Official Language Secretary, Anshuli Arya, said that more than 3,000 senior officials, representatives and experts from Central government offices, public sector undertakings and banks from the Northern, Eastern and North-Eastern regions of the country will participate in the conference.

She said that officials, representatives and experts from around 20 states will attend the conference, which is the first of its kind in Tripura.

The participating states include West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand from the Eastern region; Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim from the Northeastern region; and Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh from the Northern region.

Arya said that artificial intelligence and modern technologies would play a vital role in addressing language-related challenges.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah always speak in easy and simple Hindi for the benefit of the common people. Even the Union Home Minister, while writing letters, uses the official language of the respective states,” she told the media.

She said the Union government has always emphasised the use of Hindi and 22 other Indian languages, including local languages, to strengthen the country’s cultural roots.

The Department of Official Language under the MHA has taken several initiatives to promote the wider use of Hindi and other Indian languages across the country.

“There is no question of imposing a major language like Hindi on local or other Indian languages,” the official said.

Arya said that during the conference, 80 Regional Official Language Awards for the year 2024-25 will be presented to Central government offices, banks and undertakings for exemplary implementation of the Official Language Policy.

Selected City Official Language Implementation Committees will also be honoured with the Nagar Rajbhasha Karyanvayan Samiti (NARAKAS) Rajbhasha Samman.

The awardees are selected on the basis of quarterly progress reports submitted through the official information management system and will receive certificates and shields, Arya added.

The inaugural session to be held on Friday will also witness the release of the Northeast Special Issue of Rajbhasha Bharati, prepared by the Department of Official Language.

In addition, the books “Indian Languages and the Official Language Hindi – Timeless Works” and “Timeless Inspiring Verses of Amritvani Sanskrit” will be released on the occasion.

An exhibition showcasing innovations, best practices and activities related to official language implementation will be set up at the venue by various banks, literary institutions and other organisations.

As part of the programme, a yoga session aimed at promoting a healthy and stress-free lifestyle among officials is being organised on Thursday.

The session will include simple asanas, pranayama and stress-management exercises under the guidance of experienced instructors.

The Department of Official Language was established as an independent department on June 26, 1975, with the objective of effective implementation of constitutional provisions related to Hindi, the official language of the Union in the Devanagari script.

The Department organises four regional official language conferences every financial year to review progress and promote the use of Hindi in official work.

This conference is the second joint regional conference of the financial year 2025–26, following the first held at Devi Ahilya University in Indore.

–IANS

sc/khz