Thiruvananthapuram: The controversial circular issued by a Delhi government-run hospital, barring the use of Malayalam language by its nursing employees at work has drawn flak from the medical fraternity, political leaders and the public.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday deplored the controversial circular and called it an "assault on our diversity".
However, he lauded the hospital authorities for withdrawing the order following criticism from various quarters.
"Malayalam is one of the official languages of India which has a classical language status.
Although it was a delayed decision, the authorities did a commendable job by withdrawing the circular which was against the cultural and democratic set up of our country," Vijayan posted on his Facebook page.
The CM hailed officials of GB Pant hospital for taking corrective measures by revoking the circular and said it was "unacceptable for a civilised society to divide the employees on the basis of language and culture".
Cong seeks strict action
The Congress on Sunday demanded strict action against the authorities of the Delhi Hospital for issuing a circular.
Congress leaders led by Rahul Gandhi hit out at the authorities at the Delhi government-run G B Pant hospital and said language discrimination should end.
"Malayalam is as Indian as any other Indian language. Stop language discrimination," Rahul Gandhi said.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also shared concerns and posted the order of the Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research that asked the nursing staff to use only Hindi and English for communication, and said serious action will be taken if that is not followed.
"This order violates the basic values of our country," she said in a tweet in Malayalam and termed it as "racist, discriminatory and completely wrong."
She said the order is an insult to nurses and health workers from Kerala who made us secure by risking their own lives during Covid times.
"We owe them debt of gratitude and respect," she said, adding that the order should be withdrawn immediately and an apology should be issued.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the order is "totally bizarre". "This is unconstitutional, really...," he said.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal urged Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to take action against the hospital authorities.
In a letter to the Health minister, he said it is unbelievable that such an order has been issued by an institution denying basic fundamental rights to frontline health workers working there.
"I would urge you to look into this matter and take immediate measures to withdraw the atrocious and discriminatory circular. I would also urge you to take immediate disciplinary action against the persons who issued such a circular based on linguistic discrimination," Venugopal said in his letter to the health minister.
He said nurses from Kerala are serving across the world in Covid times and helping save people's lives, and their contribution cannot be ignored.
The Delhi health department has issued a memo to Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (GIPMER) in connection with the controversial circular, sources said.
According to the circular issued by the hospital on Saturday, a complaint had been received regarding Malayalam language being used for communication in working places in GIPMER.
It stated that maximum patients and colleagues do not know the language and feel helpless causing a lot of inconvenience.
The order then directed all nursing personnel to use only Hindi and English for communication.
(With PTI inputs.)
