An advisory panel of Oxford languages has declared the word ‘Aatmanirbharta’ as the Hindi word of 2020. The word, meaning self-reliance came into prominence after Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a call for ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat‘ (self-reliant India) an important initiative in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Experts Kritika Agrawal, Poonam Nigam Sahay and Imogen Foxell were on the panel of Oxford Languages which made the announcement Tuesday.
Word ‘Aatmanirbharta’ gained prominence after PM Modi’s call for a self-reliant India
“In an unprecedented year, ‘Aatmanirbharta’ found resonance with a wide cross-section of people as it is seen to be an answer to the revival of a COVID-impacted economy,” said Oxford University Press India managing director Sivaramarkrishnan Venkateswaran. He further added that amid a number of interesting and topical entries received, ‘aatmanirbharta’ stood out as it validated day-to-day achievements of the countless Indians who dealt with and survived the perils of a pandemic.
In a statement, Oxford Languages said that in the early months of the pandemic when PM Narendra Modi announced India’s COVID-19 recovery package, he emphasised the need to become self-reliant as a country, as an economy, as a society and as individuals, in a bid to navigate the perils of the pandemic. It opined that the usage and the prominence of the word gained significance after PM Modi’s call for an “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”.
Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan is the vision of new India envisaged by PM Modi
Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan or self-reliant India campaign is the vision of new India envisaged by PM Narendra Modi aimed to make India into a bigger and more important part of the global economy.
India’s significant achievement in the time of corona has been about discovering its forgotten ability to globally lead as a manufacturer. For instance, India experienced a brilliant transition from zero PPE production in the country to becoming the world’s second-largest manufacturer of PPEs. All this was achieved during the time of the pandemic.
Understanding this potential, PM Narendra Modi launched a remarkable initiative for self-reliance – Aatmanirbhar Bharat. As the Prime Minister said, making India self-reliant is the only way to make the 21st century as India’s century. The goal is to focus on domestic manufacturing by being Vocal for Local and ultimately to take Local to Global.
The large-scale manufacturing of the Covid-19 vaccine in India went on to become one of the most important achievement under the entire Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign coined by PM Narendra Modi.
During the Republic Day parade, the Department of Biotechnology highlighted the Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign and showcased the Covid-19 vaccine development process in its tableau at Rajpath.
Previous Hindi words of the year are Aadhaar (2017), Nari Shakti (2018) and Samvidhaan (2019).