Amidst heavy criticism, the government on Friday clarified that the use of Hindi on government of India's social media platforms is only for Hindi-speaking states.
"Do not seek to impose communication in Hindi on States which are not Hindi speaking. It is clarified that these instructions of the Department of Official Languages was dated March 10 of this year. Use of Hindi on government of India's social media platforms is only for Hindi-speaking states," an official spokesperson said.
Yesterday, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M Karunanidhi condemned government's decision to give priority to Hindi on official social media interactions.
He said that it's an attempt to treat non-Hindi speakers as second class citizens.
Minister of State, Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, however, said that the home ministry never issued any directive to make Hindi a compulsory language in departments and added that this was being made into an unnecessary controversy.