Mr secretary, you chose to ignore us: Congress MP says in presence of Prez at Hindi Divas event

Satyavrat Chaturvedi expressed his displeasure when Prabhas Kumar Jha, secretary, was delivering his speech at the Hindi Divas function at Vijyan Bhavan.

Congress MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi on Thursday created a scene at a function attended by President Ram Nath Kovind after an official did not acknowledge the contributions of a parliamentary panel in the growth and expansion of Hindi.

President Ram Nath Kovind, home minister Rajnath Singh and ministers of state for home affairs, Hansraj Ahir and Kiren Rijiju at the presentation ceremony of the Rajbhasa awards for the Year 2016-17 on the occasion of Hindi Divas, in New Delhi on September 14. (Sushil Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Chaturvedi stood up to express his displeasure when Prabhas Kumar Jha, secretary, department of official language, was delivering the vote of thanks at the Hindi Divas function, which was attended by the President, home minister Rajnath Singh and his deputies, Kiren Rijiju and Hansraj Ahir.

“Mr secretary, you have thanked everyone but the MPs belonging to the parliamentary committee on official language. We have visited the whole country and did our best for the growth and expansion of Hindi. But you just chose to ignore us,” Chaturvedi said.

Around 1,000 people attended the event held at the Vigyan Bhavan.

Jha, on his part, said Rijiju had already mentioned the contribution of the parliamentary panel and appreciated the role of the MPs in his welcome address.

The president, the home minister and the junior ministers did not react and left the dais soon after the national anthem that followed Jha’s speech.

Chaturvedi later told reporters that he tried to bring an important issue to the notice of the home minister and expects action from him.