Delhi withdraws ‘No Malayalam’ order on nurses

After a furore over its “no speaking in Malayalam at work” order, a Delhi government hospital on Sunday revoked its circular for its nursing staff. On Saturday, the Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (GIPMER) had issued a circular, asking its nurses to use only Hindi and English for communication or be ready to face strict action.

The hospital administration said that the circular was issued without its information.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday welcomed the withdrawal of the order. “It is understood that such an order, which is incompatible with our culture and democracy, has been withdrawn. The authorities came forward to take the right stand, though belatedly. Those who segregate employees based on language and try to divide them should refrain from it,” he said in a Facebook post.

He said that Malayalee nurses are exemplary service-providers in many hospitals in Delhi, including the Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (GIPMER).

“Malayalam, the mother tongue of Malayalees, is one of the official languages of India. Dividing employees on the basis of language and culture is not conducive to a civilised society. In particular, such measures are not in line with our country and its culture, which places great importance on the mother tongue,” he said.

The Congress party led by Rahul Gandhi demanded strict action against the hospital for issuing a “discriminatory circular” and termed it unconstitutional and denial of the fundamental rights. “Malayalam is as Indian as any other Indian language. Stop language discrimination,” Gandhi said.

Explaining about the said circular, the nursing superintendent of the hospital said that the authorities had to issue a circular against the use of Malayalam because some patients had complained that they were unable to understand what the nurses were talking.