Indian Languages Section: Amit Shah's Push to Shift Administrative Power Away From 'Influence of Foreign Languages'

In a push to decentralise language power in government institutions, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday inaugurated the Bharatiya Bhasha Anubhag (BBA), or Indian Languages Section, an initiative aimed at institutionalising the use of Indian languages across administrative correspondence and policymaking.

Speaking at the launch in New Delhi, Shah framed the move as both cultural and political, saying, “Only by strengthening all the local languages of the country, we can take India to its eternal glorious position.” He added, “Our potential can be fully exploited only when our processes of thinking, analysis and decision-making are in our mother tongue.”

Positioned under the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Department of Official Language, the BBA is designed to act as a structured platform that reflects the nation’s linguistic plurality. “Every language of ours is completely connected with other languages, and the development of all languages is not possible without each other,” Shah said, drawing a metaphor: “All our languages are like rivers [that] combine together to form the Ganga of Indian culture.”

The Home Minister described Indian languages as “the soul of the country’s culture,” and asserted that the BBA marks a turning point. “The Indian Languages Section will prove to be a milestone in the direction of freeing the administration from the influence of foreign languages,” he said.

Echoing this intent, Anshuli Arya, Secretary of the Official Languages Division, cited existing limitations in the Official Languages Rules, 1976. The rules designate English for all communication from the Centre to Region C states, such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka. “Presently, we deal in English and Hindi under OL Rules 1976. If we have to send a letter to C States, then it will be in English,” Arya said in a statement issued at a press conference last year.

“The C States feel that their own language is not able to come to the centre stage,” she added. Arya explained that the BBA aims to close this gap through “universal translation,” making use of technology developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). “If a letter written in Tamil by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has to be replied [to] by the Minister, it will be replied in Tamil.”

Shah also underlined the importance of using technology without compromising linguistic nuances. “Technology should be used without reducing the spirit, richness and sensitivities of all languages,” he said. In a pointed remark, he concluded, “We will definitely win the battle against imposition of English upon us.”

With the formal launch of BBA, the Department of Official Language has, according to Shah, become a “complete entity.” Whether this administrative consolidation translates into functional linguistic federalism remains to be seen, especially as language continues to remain a deeply politicised terrain in Indian public life.