Delhi hospital revokes directive on language use
NURSES WERE DIRECTED NOT TO SPEAK IN ANY LANGUAGE OTHER THAN HINDI AND ENGLISH
NEW DELHI: A Delhi government-run hospital on Sunday withdrew a controversial order that barred its nursing staff from communicating in any language other than Hindi and English after backlash from political parties and health care workers, who alleged that the directive was “discriminatory” and “unconstitutional”.
The Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research in central Delhi issued a circular to the nursing staff of the facility on June 5, saying that a “complaint has been received regarding Malayalam language being used for communication”.
“... maximum patient(s) and colleagues do not know this language and feel helpless, causing a lot of inconvenience. So it is directed to all Nursing Personnel to use only Hindi and English for communication, otherwise serious action will be taken,” the order issued by GIPMER’S nursing superintendent Veena Verma said.
Under fire over the circular, GIPMER released a statement saying it was pulling back the directive that had been issued “without any instructions or knowledge” of the hospital administration and the Delhi government.
“This circular dated June 5, 2021 which was issued by Nursing Superintendent, GB Pant Hospital, without any instructions or knowledge of the Hospital Administration and Delhi Government stands withdrawn with immediate effect,” the statement said on Sunday.
Congress MP from Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi, criticised the incident and wrote on Twitter: “Malayalam is as Indian as any other Indian language. Stop language discrimination!”
Gandhi’s colleague and Congress lawmaker KC Venugopal on Saturday said in a letter addressed to Union health minister Harsh Vardhan that the hospital’s directive was “unbelievable” and “atrocious”. “I appeal the honourable health minister Harsh Vardhan to order an immediate withdrawal of the bizarre and unconstitutional circular...” he wrote on Twitter before the hospital overturned its decision.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Tom Vadakkan blamed the directive on the Aam Aadmi Party-led government in Delhi. “The order and it’s withdrawal in haste clearly indicates we have an anarchist Delhi Government for whom the Constitution of India and its recognised languages do not matter,” he said on Sunday.
Delhi government officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Nurses from the Malayali community condemned the order and said the circular showed complete “disregard for our mother tongue” despite health care workers working round-the-clock to fight the pandemic. “In the times of Covid, the hospital should be fostering a conducive environment for the nurses. Instead, the administration is bringing forth such unnecessary circulars. This would have affected the morale and harmony among nurses. Segregating people on the basis of language is not right. The administration has shown complete disregard for our mother tongue and this is not tolerable,” said Fameer CK, representative of the Delhi Action Committee of Malayali Nurses. He added that the hospital administration should not have taken such a decision without consulting the government first.
The hospital has a staff of around 1,000 nurses. “The order did not make sense and has rightly been withdrawn. Why single out a particular language like this? ...this was an irrational order and was rightly highlighted, but there are other critical issues plaguing the nursing profession...” said Liladhar Ramchandani, president, GB Pant nurses association.