The edict follows last month’s landslide election victory of Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist who has made a point of speaking in Hindi in official meetings since he took power. The scale of his victory – he won India’s first single party majority in 30 years – has been attributed in part to resentment towards the Westernised elite. “Macaulay’s children”, as they are sometimes referred to, regard Hindi as a badge of ignorance and poverty.