New Delhi

Union Health Minister J P Nadda on Tuesday called for greater use of Hindi and other Indian languages in the health sector, saying that communicating with people in their own language can improve the reach and delivery of healthcare services.

Chairing the second meeting of the health ministry's Hindi Advisory Committee in Delhi, Nadda said the country was moving beyond the colonial influence of the Western world towards greater use of Indian languages, and language was an important means of strengthening "Indianness".

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has presented his thoughts and vision in Hindi at international forums on several important occasions and emphasised strengthening Indianness," Nadda said.

The meeting reviewed the use of Hindi as the official language in the ministry and its subordinate offices, besides discussing steps taken so far and the future action plan to promote its use.

Nadda directed a review of the 'official-language' posts under the ministry and to take steps to fill vacancies in a time-bound manner. He asked officials to prepare a list of such vacant posts and submit it to him at the earliest so that the matter could be taken up with the Finance Ministry.

Emphasising the need to train officials and employees to work in Hindi, Nadda suggested organising a short one-week training course or workshop, with a clear schedule of activities for the entire week.

At least half of the articles published in the ministry journals should be in Hindi; the use of Hindi in bulletins should also be increased, he suggested.

Referring to the experiment of imparting medical education in Hindi at Bhopal Medical College, Nadda said the initiative should be studied to understand how it could be replicated in other institutions.

He suggested that members of the Hindi Advisory Committee study the experiment and prepare a clear action plan. Since health is a state subject, the plan could subsequently be discussed with health ministers of different states to explore the possibility of adopting Hindi and regional languages in medical education, he said.

On Hindi Fortnight, Nadda suggested preparing a coordinated daily programme so that the language could be promoted effectively within a limited period without disrupting the regular work of employees.

The health minister also said Hindi vocabulary should be made richer, practical and easy to understand.

"Instead of searching for complex Hindi equivalents for every word, commonly used and simple vocabulary that has already been assimilated into Hindi should be accepted. This will make the language easier and more understandable for the general public," he said.

During the meeting, appreciation certificates were presented to personnel who had carried out a greater amount of official work in Hindi. The book "Aish Shabd Sanket", published by the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysuru, was also released.

At the meeting, Minister of State for Health Prataprao Jadhav said the ministry was making continuous efforts to institutionalise the wider use of Hindi. He said officials and employees were being encouraged to undertake more official work in Hindi and new initiatives were being promoted in this direction.

The committee members gave suggestions on increasing the use of Hindi and making health facilities and information available to people in simple language.

Union Health Minister of State Anupriya Patel, senior BJP leader and deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee Bhartruhari Mahtab, MPs Dinesh Sharma and Anoop Pradhan Valmiki, Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava and Department of Health Research Secretary Rajiv Bahl, among others, attended the meeting.

The Hindi Advisory Committee of the Health Ministry was constituted on April 28, 2025, to promote the use of Hindi as the official language. The committee is headed by the Union Health Minister, with Jadhav and Patel as vice-chairpersons. It comprises six MPs and nine non-government members working in the field of Hindi, besides senior ministry officials and heads of some subordinate offices as ex-officio members.

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The previous meeting of the committee was held in New Delhi on August 22, 2025.