The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India is allegedly affecting the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A recent example is the Hindi publication of the Prime Minister’s monthly radio programme “Mann Ki Baat.” This book or booklet is being printed by the Central Bureau of Communication. In an attempt to reproduce the Prime Minister’s original Hindi address verbatim, an excessive use of the Roman script has been made within the Devanagari script of the official language, thereby disregarding the constitutional provisions related to language.

Naturally, readers may be compelled to think that the Prime Minister himself used Roman script at various places in his Hindi address, neglecting Devanagari. However, the truth is that the Prime Minister may not even be aware of what is being done in his name. This publication has exposed the bureaucratic apathy towards Hindi.

The 128th edition of “Mann Ki Baat” has been published in the November 2025 issue. In the 80-page booklet, the Prime Minister’s address appears in Hindi across 15 pages.

While printing the Prime Minister’s radio address in Hindi, Roman script has been freely used alongside Devanagari on almost every page. This mixing of scripts at the government level is an unusual experiment and amounts to a violation of the Indian Constitution on behalf of the Prime Minister.

In the address, even simple English words such as Central Hall, Aircraft, Maintenance, Repair and Sector have been printed in Roman script amidst Devanagari text. This not only appears visually jarring but also indicates an intent at the official level to undermine the Devanagari script.

This anti–official language practice is not limited to the Prime Minister’s address. In other articles in the same publication as well, English words have been printed in Roman script within Hindi text at several places. This reveals the extent of carelessness in the present bureaucracy regarding language, the official language, culture and the Constitution. If such practices are being publicly adopted in the Prime Minister’s address, one can imagine what might be happening in other government Hindi publications.

Interestingly, in the same book, several so-called difficult English terms have been printed entirely in Devanagari—for example, on page 55 “Pratham High Altitude Ultra Run Marathon,” on page 58 “Vocal for Local ” and on page 66 “Endurance.” Yet, a double standard has been applied in the Prime Minister’s written language. In the Prime Minister’s Hindi address, the same phrase “Vocal for Local” has been printed in Roman script.

Since when such practices have been followed in the publication of “Mann Ki Baat” in the Prime Minister’s name remains a subject of investigation. No one in the ministry is willing to officially explain why this is being done. However, the primary reasons are being attributed to ignorance, negligence and lack of diligence among contractual staff. However, the competent authority is responsible for all kinds of such irregularities in the name of languages and scripts who approved its printing.