The word gained popularity due to Aadhaar card, which was in news last year and is likely to remain in highlight this year as well.
The announcement was made at a session "Oxford Dictionaries' Hindi Word of the Year" during the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival here.
Other words such as 'Mitron', 'Notebandi', 'Gau-Rakshak' were also considered, but the widespread discussions and debates around 'Aadhaar' was reason it was selected as the word of the year, journalist Saurabh Dwivedi said during the discussion.
Writer Pankaj Dubey said new words like 'Sleepawastha' (state of sleeping), 'Maukatarian' (opportunist) should be coined to express certain moods. Chitra Mudgal objected to the suggestion and instead advocated for correct use of languages.
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Poet and writer Ashok Vajpeyi said politicians use Hindi word 'Mitron' (friends) which is not grammatically correct, when in fact the correct word is 'Mitro' -- an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who uses the term often in his speeches.
Vajpeyi said the responsibility to conserve language lies with people.
"Changes would come, new words would be coined but ultimately the responsibility to conserve the language is on citizens," he said.
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