Learning the language of another region or another state can be very educative and can open a window to a culture that is at once familiar and new, President of India Ram Nath Kovind said after unveiling a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha in Chennai.
Twinning programmes
He said in Delhi, he had come across cases of north Indian schoolchildren learning Tamil. He said that twinning programmes between different states are popularising the language of one region in another. “Such steps reinforce national harmony,” he added. The President, who delivered his speech first in Tamil, then in English and then moved on to Hindi, said that there is a practical benefit to learning languages of other states.
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“We live in an age when a growing Indian economy is leading to significant internal migration. Young men and women from one part of the country are adding value to another part of the country. In such cases, knowing the language of the State or region can only be an asset. It adds value to an individual’s CV — and it adds value to India,” he said.
The President extolled the contributions of Subramania Bharati, Periyar, the last Governor-General Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, and former President R. Venkataraman, all of whom were multilingual intellectuals from Tamil Nadu.
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Shivaraj V. Patil, president of Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha, said the unveiling of the statue was to show respect, inspire and motivate people for promoting and learning Hindi, besides maintaining India’s unity, integrity and solidarity.
Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha, founded by Mahatma Gandhi, has completed 100 years.