Malayalam to be made mandatory across education, recruitment, governance: Key highlights of new bill

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government is set to present the Malayalam Language Bill in the Legislative Assembly once again, with greater emphasis on the use of Malayalam, particularly in technology and digital platforms.

As part of the new policy, Malayalam versions of e-governance platforms, government websites, and mobile applications will be rolled out. The policy will also support Artificial Intelligence, machine translation, and the unification of the Malayalam Unicode font, among other initiatives. Significantly, it will pave the way for making the study of Malayalam mandatory in universities, higher education institutions, and colleges across the state.

Proficiency in Malayalam will become a criterion in PSC examinations, government recruitments, and competitive tests. Meanwhile, a proposal is already in place to rename the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department as the Malayalam Language Development Department once the bill comes into effect. A new Directorate for the Malayalam Language will also be established.

All government orders, rules, bylaws, regulations, bills presented in the Assembly, laws passed by the legislature, and ordinances issued by the Government will henceforth be in Malayalam. English translations will be provided wherever necessary. Similarly, all central and state Acts, along with amendments, will be translated into Malayalam.

English will, however, continue to be used for communication with the Central Government, its institutions, other states, the High Court, the Supreme Court, and foreign countries. The draft bill also includes provisions to protect the rights of minority language speakers in Kerala, including Tamil, Kannada, Tulu, and Konkani communities. The government plans to table the bill during the ongoing Assembly session.

Malayalam Language Bill: Key Features

• Malayalam will be the mandatory first language from Classes 1 to 10 in all government and aided schools.
• Students with other mother tongues will be given the option to learn Malayalam.
• Development of a uniform Malayalam script for applications in science and technology.
• Use of Malayalam mandated in all court proceedings, including orders up to the District Court.
• Orders issued by quasi-judicial bodies will also be in Malayalam.
• Boards of government, self-governing, and cooperative institutions, as well as designations of bureaucrats and official vehicle nameplates, will be in Malayalam.
• Government websites will provide Malayalam as a selectable option for users.