BJD to protest against AIIMS Bhubaneswar directive of using Hindi
AIIMS Bhubaneswar on Thursday had brought out a notice asking all its employees to sign in Hindi as well as write names and subjects in all files in Hindi language.
The ruling Biju Janata Dal has protested against the directive of Bhubaneswar AIIMS authorities to its employees to speak and write in Hindi calling it the imposition of the language on the state. Odisha happened to be the first state in the country to be formed on linguistic basis, according to the party.
Chief of BJD Parliamentary Party in the Lok Sabha, Pinaki Mishra said his party would lodge a strong protest with union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan over the AIIMS Bhubaneswar directive making it mandatory for its employees to sign, write names and subject in files in Hindi. “We would not like to allow anybody sidelining our mother tongue, particularly by any institution that is working for the people of our state. We will insist on Odia being used since our people are familiar with it and that will make their task of availing services at AIIMS easier,” said Mishra.
AIIMS Bhubaneswar on Thursday had brought out a notice asking all its employees to sign in Hindi as well as write names and subjects in all files in Hindi language. “All the officers in administration, academic section, hospital administration, finance and accounts are hereby informed to do their work in Hindi and it should be ensured that the staff members working with them are doing their work in Hindi as per Official Languages Rules, 1976. Discussions may be in Hindi in all adminstrative meetings and the minutes are to be prepared in Hindi as far as possible,” the directive said.
Employees were asked to write at least 30 per cent of their notes and drafts in Hindi, write at least 55 per cent of all correspondence in Hindi, fill up all bi-lingual forms used in offices in Hindi, reply to all letters in Hindi.
Earlier in the day, Congress MP from Koraput, Saptagiri Ulaka too had protested the directive saying it was another attempt by the Centre to impose Hindi at the cost of Odia.
Dillip Dashsharma, president of Utkal Sammilani, a body promoting Odia language said the AIIMS directive was an insult to Odia language that is one of the 22 languages in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. “Every language must be given respect and no one should force any language on anybody. Rather, the Odia language should be made compulsory as per the Odisha Official Language (Amendment) Act,” he said.
