'Propaganda tool': Tamil Nadu CM targets LIC over Hindi 'imposition' on website, insurer blames technical snag

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and other political leaders criticized Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) for allegedly using Hindi predominantly on its website. They called it a form of Hindi imposition and demanded a rollback. LIC responded by saying a technical glitch caused the issue and has now been resolved.

1 2 Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Tuesday criticised Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) for its recent switch to Hindi on its website, alleging that it has become a propaganda tool. He further said that this represents a forceful imposition of cultural and linguistic elements, disregarding India's diverse nature. "The LIC website has been reduced to a propaganda tool for Hindi imposition .

Even the option to select English is displayed in Hindi!" Stalin posted on X, sharing a LIC webpage screenshot with Hindi content. "LIC grew with the patronage of all Indians. How dare it betray the majority of its contributors? We demand an immediate rollback of this linguistic tyranny.

#StopHindiImposition," he added. Additionally, PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss, an ally of BJP, called this a Hindi imposition on speakers of other languages and this needed to be condemned. He posted on X that prioritising Hindi exclusively is unacceptable, given LIC's diverse linguistic customer base across India.

He further highlighted that central government institutions serve all citizens, not exclusively Hindi speakers. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami also criticed LIC stating that the updated website is inaccessible to non-Hindi speakers. He said that the language selection option being in Hindi makes navigation impossible for non-Hindi users, criticising the central government's persistent Hindi promotion efforts.

He further added that language imposition is inappropriate in India's multilingual, multicultural context. He urged the Centre to set English as the default website language and cease Hindi promotion activities. Meanwhile, LIC in response said that its corporate website was not shuffling the language page due to some technical problem.

"Our corporate website was not shuffling the language page due to some technical problem. The issue is resolved now, and the website is available in English/Hindi language. Inconvenience caused is deeply regretted," said LIC in as statement posted on X.

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