Oxford Dictionaries has chosen ‘Aadhaar’ as the Hindi word of the year 2017. The word of the year was formally announced on Saturday at the Jaipur Literature Festival.

In 2018, the word gained popularity in India after reports surfaced that the Unique Identification Numbers (UIN) data platform can be breached and is unsecured.

Aadhaar is a 12 digit unique-identity number issued to all Indian residents based on their biometric and demographic data. The data is collected by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), a statutory authority established in January 2009 by the Government of India.

The official Twitter handle of Oxford Dictionaries wrote; after reviewing the hundreds of public suggestions received, and consulting the opinions of an advisory panel of language experts, Oxford Dictionaries has chosen its first ever Hindi Word of the Year.

Other words such as ‘Mitron’, ‘Notebandi’, ‘Gau-Rakshak’ were also considered, but the widespread discussions and debates around ‘Aadhaar’ was reason it was selected as the word of the year.

As per media reports, at the Jaipur Literature Festival the announcement of the Hindi ‘Word of the Year’ was subject of a panel discussion with Ashok Vajpeyi, Hindi poet, literary and cultural critic, Pankaj Dubey, writer, producer and director, Anu Singh Choudhary, writer, translator and filmmaker and Chitra Mudgal, one of the leading literary figures of modern Hindi literature, among others.

Writer Pankaj Dubey said new words like ‘Sleepawastha’ (state of sleeping), ‘Maukatarian’ (opportunist) should be coined to express certain moods. Chitra Mudgal objected to the suggestion and instead advocated for correct use of languages.

“If a person with lack of proper knowledge coins and expresses such words then it can be understood but this is not acceptable when educated people do this,” Mudgal, an author, said.

Poet and writer Ashok Vajpeyi said politicians use Hindi word ‘Mitron’ (friends) which is not grammatically correct, when in fact the correct word is ‘Mitro’ — an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who uses the term often in his speeches.

Vajpeyi said the responsibility to conserve language lies with people.

“Changes would come, new words would be coined but ultimately the responsibility to conserve the language is on citizens,” he said.

Talking about the languages used by media, journalist Vinod Dua said that media’s job is to provide news in a simple language for audience, instead of creating a literature while broadcasting the news.

(With agency inputs)