New Delhi: Delhi's Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research on Sunday withdrew its circular directing nursing staff to communicate only in Hindi/English and disallowing use of Malayalam language.
The circular which was issued by the Nursing Superintendent, G B Pant Hospital, without any instructions or knowledge of the hospital administration and the Delhi government stands withdrawn with immediate effect, a new order issued by the Medical Director Dr Anil Agarwal read.
"The matter is being investigated and strict action will follow," Dr Agarwal said.
GB Pant Hospital in Delhi had on Saturday asked its nursing staff to refrain from communicating in Malayalam as it caused inconvenience to the patients at the hospital. The Delhi government hospital issued a circular asking its nursing staff not to use Malayalam at work as "maximum patients and colleagues do not know this language" which it said causes a lot of inconveniences.
The circular issued by the Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (GIPMER), one of the leading facilities here, has asked its nurses to use only Hindi and English for communication or face "strict action".
An official of the G B Pant nurses' association said there are around 850 nurses working at the hospital, of which around 400 are Malayali.
G B Pant nurses' association president Liladhar Ramchandani claimed it was issued in pursuance of a complaint sent by a patient to a senior officer in the health department, regarding use of Malayalam language at the hospital while adding that "the union disagrees with the wordings used in the circular".
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called for stopping language discrimination. Party leader Shashi Tharoor said that the order was unacceptable, crude, offensive and a violation of the basic human rights of Indian citizens.