8th World Hindi Conference- Declaration

The 8th World Hindi Conference was held from 13-15 July 2007 in New York. The inaugural ceremony of the Conference was held at the United Nations Headquarters. Inauguration of the 8th World Hindi Conference for the first time ever in the Conference Hall of the United Nations Organisations was a historic achievement for Hindi lovers all over the world.

Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations addressed the Inaugural session of the Conference. This in itself was an important achievement. 

The Conference welcomes the resolve to make Hindi, already a language spoken in many countries, an official language of the United Nations as mentioned in the audio - visual address of the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh at the inauguration.

The conference also welcomes the suggestion made by the Prime Minister that Hindi writings of Indians living abroad should also be included in the Hindi syllabus and standard Hindi curriculum should be developed for teaching Hindi in other countries.

The conference also welcomes the call made by the Prime Minister to develop good Hindi software, hardware and search engines in order to make Hindi a powerful language of the internet and also the need to honour and respect those engaged in the field of Hindi both in India and abroad.

While welcoming the message of the Prime Minister, the conference urges the Government of India to launch a Government-authorised campaign to mobilize support of the majority of the member-nations of the United Nations and take all possible steps to ensure that Hindi is recognized as one of the official languages of the UN. NRI Organisations abroad should also make an effort to get the support of the Governments of their respective country.

In addition, as a result of the discussions and deliberations held during the 8th World Hindi Conference, the following is proposed:

     1. In order to popularize teaching of Hindi and Devnagari script, a standardized syllabus be prepared for teaching Hindi as a second language and a system be evolved to recognise Hindi teachers.

     2. To ensure active and purposeful functioning of the World Hindi Secretariat, the Governments of India and Mauritius should extend all possible administrative and financial assistance to the Secretariat and should consider setting up of regional offices of the Secretariat in Delhi and in 4-5 other countries. The Conference calls upon the Secretariat to develop a website on "Viswa Manch Per Hindi" in order to popularize Hindi. 

     3. Simple and good books in Hindi on science, technology and technical subjects should be encouraged. Effective measures be taken to popularize information technology in Hindi. A system based on universally recognized Unicode be developed and made available to all.

     4. Data base of foreign universities and schools where Hindi is taught be prepared. A list of Hindi teachers should also be prepared.

     5. The Conference calls upon the Hindi lovers of the world, especially non-resident Indians and Indian nationals working abroad to assist in promotion and propagation of Hindi language and literature abroad.

     6. Arrangement for research scholarship be made for foreign Hindi scholars at the Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyala, Wardha.

     7. Kendriya Hindi Sansthan should also contribute actively in promotion of Hindi abroad and preparation of Hindi syllabus. 

     8. Setting up of Hindi chairs in foreign university be considered.

     9. In addition to being a language of literature, Hindi should also be used as a language of modern science and commerce.

     10. India should encourage use of Hindi at national and international level symposia and conferences.