Hindi Diwas 2026: Amit Shah Opens 6th Rajbhasha Conference

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah was the chief guest at Hindi Diwas 2026. He addressed the 6th All India Official Language Conference from the same platform. The Department of Official Language, which works under the Ministry of Home Affairs, organised the event. It is being held at the CIDCO Exhibition Centre in Vashi, Navi Mumbai, on 14 and 15 September 2026. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis attended. Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar were also present. Ministers of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai and Bandi Sanjay Kumar joined them. Anshuli Arya, Secretary of the Department of Official Language, was on the dais.

Hindi Shabd Sindhu crosses 8 lakh words

The Home Minister spoke at length about the dictionary called Hindi Shabd Sindhu. More than 50,000 words taken from local languages have been added to it. The collection has now grown to 8 lakh words. He said it is set to become the largest dictionary in the world by 2029. Words coined by Veer Savarkar are also being entered into it. He described the additions as a step that makes official Hindi more flexible and more inclusive.

Kanthasth 2.0 opened to foreign users

The Minister also spoke about Kanthasth 2.0, a translation tool built on artificial intelligence. Its database holds more than five crore sentences. The tool has now been opened to users outside India. He added that four volumes of the Official Language Committee report have been handed to the President since 2019, and that the fifth volume is ready.

Who won which award

Amit Shah presented the Rajbhasha Kirti Awards and the Rajbhasha Gaurav Awards. The Department of Financial Services took the first prize under Rajbhasha Kirti for the year 2025-26. It won in the category meant for ministries and departments with fewer than 300 employees. Additional Secretary Hari Har Mishra received the award. The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances was given the special Rajbhasha Utkrishtata Sammaan. Its Secretary, Nivedita Shukla Verma, accepted the honour. That department had already taken the first Rajbhasha Kirti prize for 2023-24 and again for 2024-25. A department that stands first twice in a row is not given the prize the next year, so a special honour was created to mark its record.

Tilak, Ganesh Utsav and the releases

Hindi Diwas and Ganesh Chaturthi fell on the same day this year. The Home Minister called the overlap a rare and auspicious coincidence. He recalled Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who began the public celebration of Ganesh Utsav in Maharashtra in 1893. He released special editions of the magazine Rajbhasha Bharati and the publication titled 150 Chapters of Vande Mataram.

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