ICAI not the right place to promote Hindi, according to MP Venkatesan. Here's why

Hindi isn't the national language, reminded writer and Lok Sabha MP from Madurai, S Venkatesan. This was in response to comments made by the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Nihar S Jambusaria, hinting at the institute "incorporating Hindi into its work culture."

Venkatesan said that Hindi is not the mother tongue of a good number of the crores of people who rely on the Chartered Accountants from the ICAI to maintain their books. He suggested that such statements might hurt the sentiments of the people whose primary language isn't Hindi. 

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The statement, which was published in the institute's magazine 'The Chartered Accountant' read, "Realising the power of our mother tongue Hindi, ICAI is trying to incorporate more use of Hindi into its work culture. As part of the professional behaviour (sic), all the employees took the Rajbhasha Pledge to use and promote Hindi in our lives on this day (referring to Hindi Diwas, on September 14). Members are also encouraged to adopt Hindi language in their work and interactions with other stakeholders."

Venkatesan said that Hindi was not the chosen language of communication by a majority of the country, and asking the employers of an institute, established by an Act of the Parliament, wasn't consistent with the principles laid out in the Constitution. He demanded that Jambusaria withdraw his comments.