Miscellaneous - This Day That Age   

dated April 11, 1956: Replies in English

The Speaker, Mr. Ananthasayanam Ayyangar, urged Ministers in the Lok Sabha on April 9 to speak in the House in English instead of Hindi until the other members also switched over to Hindi. The Speaker said this when the Food Minister, Mr. A.P. Jain, began to reply to the debate on the demands for grants of his Ministry in Hindi. The Speaker said members might put questions in Hindi and answers might be given to them in Hindi. But replies to debates were subjects where policy was laid down, and it was essential that all members should be able to understand the policy speech. An Opposite member remarked: "We have no place in the House unless we understand what is going on here." The Speaker said that while certainly every member must welcome Hindi as the official language, when Ministers made statements they must be understood here. Turning to the Opposition benches where many non-Hindi knowing members sat, the Speaker said: "Members on this side were looking a little blank when the Minister was speaking in Hindi."

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