The Prime Minister Narendra Modi have pressed upon “Aatmanirbharta” quite often in past few months in lieu of coronavirus pandemic that hit the world.Good news is, the word “Aatmanirbharta” has been named as the Hindi Word of the Year 2020 by Oxford Languages. This word has validated the day-to-day achievements of the numerous Indians who handled and survived the danger of a pandemic.

Let’s look into this word a little more in detail. 

Meaning of Aatmanirbharta:

Aatmanirbharta literally means self-reliance. According to the reports, this word was chosen very carefully by the advisory panel of language experts consisting of  Kritika Agrawal, Poonam Nigam Sahay and Imogen Foxell.

But another question that comes to mind while discussing this is “What is Oxford Hindi word of the year?” Which makes sense as well. So, the answer to this question is given below.

The Oxford Hindi word of the year is a word or expression that is picked so that it reflects the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the year passed, and has enduring potential as a term of cultural importance.

Moving forward, Oxford Languages decided to showcase this word as the Hindi word of the year 2020 just like that? 

To that, well no, of course Oxford Languages said something while they decided upon this word. According to their statement, PM Modi announced India’s Covid-19 recovery package keeping in view the pandemic impact, he highlighted upon the need to become self-reliant. Not only as a country but also as an economy, society and individuals, so as to sail through the uncertainty and danger of the novel coronavirus crisis.

The word aatmanirbharta is being used almost by everyone, the usage of this word after PM Modi’s address has increased drastically. There was a massive increase in the usage of aatmanirbharta following the Prime Minister’s address.This increased usage highlighted its massive fame as a phrase and concept in the public dictionary of India.

Not only the term is getting all the praise but the efforts in actually being self reliant is what is doing wonders all across the globe. The success of the entire Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign can be seen in the large-scale manufacturing of the Covid-19 vaccine in India. During the Republic Day parade, the Department of Biotechnology emphasised the Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign and showcased the Covid-19 vaccine development process in its tableau at Rajpath.

In the words of Kritika Agrawal, “This word gives a voice to the strength shown by the young as well as the old, similar in dealing with long stretched periods of isolation, lack of familial support, loss of livelihoods and other difficulties through sheer determination and self-reliance.”

Let’s look into the previous Hindi words of the year

  • 2017 – Aadhar 
  • 2018 –  Nari Shakti
  • 2019 – Samvidhaan