HLL Lifecare Ltd has bagged the prestigious Indira Gandhi Rajbhasha Shield for 2013-2014. It is the eighth time that the Central PSU has been honoured for its performance in implementing the official language, Hindi.
HLL won the first prize in the C-Region category of the awards. President Pranab Mukherjee presented the award to M Ayyappan, CMD, HLL, at a function held in Delhi last week, on the occasion of Hindi Diwas. Ministers’ of State for Home Affairs Mullappally Ramachandran and R P N Singh and Arun Kumar Jain, Secretary, Home Affairs, were also present on the occasion.
The Rajbhasha awards, instituted by the Union Home Ministry and the Department of Official Language, are given annually for outstanding achievement in promoting the Official Language Policy of the government. Hindi Diwas is observed across the country to commemorate the historic occasion when Hindi was adopted as the official language of Constituent Assembly on September 14, 1949.
HLL has put into practice innovative ways to promote Hindi language among its employees. The ‘Learn-A-Word’ programme is a novel scheme that teaches one Hindi word and its meaning in English everyday through the company’s internal messenger system. A Hindi cinema library, Hindi magazines and newspapers, in-house Hindi publications, training in the language at one’s desk and spoken Hindi classes are other options available for employees to learn and speak Hindi with ease. The language is also used in official correspondences, business cards, press releases, annual reports, manuals and other communication materials brought out by the company.
Hindi training is held for employees every month and special coaching is given to new employees if requested. Competitions are held every year as part of the Hindi Fortnight Celebration for employees and their families.
Employees also participate in competitions and programmes organised by Kerala Hindi Prachar Sabha and Town Official Language Implementation Committee (TOLIC). A Hindi Mela is organised as part of Annual Day celebrations of the Recreation Club and a Hindi “Music Night” is also conducted at HLL for the employees and their children.
The Eloquence Programme is another attractive initiative for employees which encourages them to learn and speak in Hindi. HLL also conducts seminars in Hindi on topics related to the company for college students.
HLL has provided boards in schools for learning one Hindi word a day and conducts memory tests on a monthly basis, in addition to spoken Hindi training and competitions for the students of schools adopted under the company’s CSR activities.