New Delhi May 2025 : The first meeting of the Municipal Official Language Office Committee, नगर राजभाषा कार्यालय समिति (NARAKAS) was held at0+0.. Jamia Millia Islamia on 26 May 2025 under the chairmanship of Vice Chancellor Prof. Mazhar Asif, in which the heads of offices and other administrative officers including the Official Language Officers of 109 offices under the Central Government participated. Honorable Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, Professor Mazhar Asif has been very recently entrusted with the responsibility of the Presidency of the Municipal Official Language Implementation Committee, Delhi Central-1 by the Department of Official Language, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

Shri Kumar Pal Sharma : Joint Director, Department of Official Language, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India was the  distinguished guest on the occasion. Along with him, some other officials of the Official Language Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs also attended the program.

The program started with the recitation of a verse from the Holy Quran followed by the presentation of  the Jamia Tarana. The reception committee formally welcomed the guests. Registrar of JMI, Prof. Md. Mahtab Alam Rizvi, while giving the welcome address, highlighted the importance of the use of official language, Hindi in government work and discussed the relevance and utility of the meeting. Prof. Rizvi expressed his gratitude and thanked the Official Language Department,  Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India for entrusting the responsibility of chairing the City Official Language Implementation Committee Delhi (Central-1) to the Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, Professor Mazhar Asif. Describing the responsibility of the Presidency being handed over to JMI as significant, he said that "JMI is not just an institution but signifies a movement which has been inspired by the freedom struggle for Independence of India. Great personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Hakim Ajmal Khan played an important role in the establishment of this university. Notably, the aim of preserving Indian languages through the setting up of JMI was fundamental to the mission of its founding fathers. Keeping this objective in mind, Mahatma Gandhi sent his son Devdas Gandhi to teach Hindi in Jamia. With the express purpose of promotion of Hindi, concrete steps were taken back then.Therefore, entrusting the responsibility of promotion of Hindi to JMI is a historic step because it resonates with the very idea of Jamia and therefore the university is committed to fulfilling this responsibility to the best of its ability."

Shri Kumar Pal Sharma : in his address to the august gathering stated, " The work of NARAKAS has not been going on properly for almost two years due to certain reasons, however, today after attending this meeting at JMI, I am satisfied and convinced that the responsibility of NARAKAS has now been handed over to a historical institution, which will definitely speed up the implementation of the expansion of the use of our Raj bhasha, Hindi ." While discussing the Acts related to the official language, he shared the roadmap and plans to be achieved as part of the annual program by all the offices of the Central Government and underlined its importance in the implementation of the official language. Apprising the members present on the imperative to issue various categories of  documents falling under Section 3 (3) of the Official Language Act in bilingual form, he enjoined upon all present to make sure that all working and communication in their offices is carried out in Hindi. In the context of correspondence between offices and from the point of view of the official language, he clarified the basis on which the States and Union Territories have been divided into 'A', 'B' and 'C' categories so that the work of implementation of the official language can be carried out smoothly and the annual targets set by the Home Ministry may be achieved.

In the ensuing introduction and suggestions round opened to the house, following the addresses, several Hindi officers, heads of sections and representatives from among the 109 offices who participated in the meeting, drew attention to the practical problems faced in the implementation of official language in their offices. They further apprised the newly appointed President of NARAKAS about the practical problems faced in the implementation of the official language in their respective offices and requested him to resolve these problems. Prof Asif taking note of their ideas and suggestions, assured their early resolution.  All the members expressed satisfaction with the assurance given by the Chairman and resolved to work towards achieving the benchmarks set.

Delivering the presidential address, Professor Mazhar Asif, Vice Chancellor of Jamia expressed his gratitude to the Department of Official Language, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India for entrusting him with the chairmanship of Nagar Rajbhasha Implementation Committee, Delhi Central-1. Referring to JMI's historical legacy, the Vice Chancellor said, "You should know that Premchand wrote his Godaan in this very soil of Jamia. Jamia is the text of Gandhi and Tagore's dream".  Further, he highlighted the interlinkages between language and culture and underlined the importance of the relationship between mother, mother tongue and motherland. He clarified, "Those who love their mother also love their mother tongue and their motherland and for this reason, the three cannot be separated from each other just like a child cannot be separated from his mother." In the same vein, he referred to NEP 2020, in which he played a key role as a member of the Draft and Implementation Committee. He said that mother tongue has been given a special place in NEP 2020.

Concluding his speech, Prof Asif thanked the officers of the Official Language Department,Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, all the members of the City Official Language Implementation Committee, representatives of the offices and all distinguished guests for attending the meeting and added, "I hope that all of us will work together and make continuous efforts for the promotion of official language Hindi."  It is worth noting that the JMI administration has formed several sub-committees in which Controller of Examinations, JMI, Professor Pawan Kumar Sharma, Officers on Special Duty to VC, JMI,  Dr. Satya Prakash Prasad and Mr. Om Prakash Arya, Dean of Students' Welfare, Professor Neelofer Afzal, Chief Public Relations Officer, JMI,  Professor Saima Saeed, University Librarian, Dr. Vikas Nagarale, Dr. Asif Umar of Hindi Department, Dr. Mohsin Ali of Persian Department, Dr. Rajiv Singh of Environmental Studies Department, Assistant Registrar Mr. Noorul Hoda and Ms. Shruti, Horticulturist, Dr. Bharat Bhushan, Hindi Translator, JMI Dr. Yashpal, UDC Pushkar Kumar Dhanolia and Hindi Typist, Mr. Nadeem Akhtar, have been appointed as coordinators of the various sub-committees.  The program was conducted by Assistant Registrar Ms. Shruti and Hindi Officer Dr. Rajesh Kumar.

The program concluded with the vote of thanks by CoE of JMI, Professor Pawan Kumar Sharma followed by the singing of the National Anthem.

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