Amid MNREGA Row, A 'North-South Divide' Over Hindi Names For New Laws

The row over the renaming of MNREGA has highlighted the Centre's new practice of naming bills in Hindi, deviating from the tradition of providing a Hindi and an English name for each bill. A slew of bills in recent months have come with just Hindi names -- packing in an acronym -- which many have claimed is another attempt at homogenization through language. The practice has resonated especially in the south, where leaders have equated it with another attempt at Hindi imposition.

Hindi Names So Far

The G Ram G -- which could replace the MNREGA, stands for Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Employment and Livelihood Mission (Rural) Bill.
A bill for reforms in higher education is called Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill.

There is also the Sabka Bima, Sabki Raksha Bill to amend insurance laws.

A bill for allowing the entry of private sector into the field of atomic energy flips the system -- an English name that produces a Hindi acronym. The "Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India" has the short name of SHANTI, meaning peace.

Earlier, the laws that replaced the Indian Penal Code, the Code of  Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act were called Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill.

The Bhartiya Vayuyan Vidheyak law has replaced the Aircraft Act of 1934. 

The Congress is already seeing red over naming MNREGA -- a homage to Mahatma Gandhi -- after Lord Ram. While the BJP is jeering that it is another evidence of the party's aversion to Hindu religion and ethos, the use of Hindi names appears to be about to widen the north-south divide. 

Many MPs and political leaders, meanwhile, have contended that the names in Hindi are difficult to understand.

South Leaders Speak Up

On Monday, as Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan presented the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhisthan Bill in the Lok Sabha RSP(A) leader NK Premachandran said it was difficult for him to pronounce the name. He contended that this practice of using Hindi names violates Article 348(B) of the Constitution, which says new laws should have names in English. 

Congress member Jothimani and DMK member T M Selvaganapathi also made their reservations clear. "I see this as an imposition of Hindi. Already, Tamil Nadu has been deprived of SSA funds just because we have opposed the three-language policy in the National Education Policy-2020," Jothimani said.

DMK leader T R Baalu also spoke against "imposition" of Hindi on southern states.

Congress's P Chidambaram said the change "is an affront to non-Hindi speaking people and states that have an official language other than Hindi".

In a post on X, he said so far, the practice was to "write the title of the Bill in English words in the English version and in Hindi words in the Hindi version of the Bill. When no one pointed out any difficulty in the 75-year practice, why should (the) government make a change?" 

What The Constitution Says

Article 348(1)(b) of the Constitution says until Parliament decides otherwise, texts of all Bills, Acts, Ordinances, orders, rules, regulations, and by-laws at the central and state levels, as well as all proceedings in the Supreme Court and High Courts, must be in English. The English version should prevail in case of conflict with any other translation.