Delhi govt. hospital order asking nurses not to use Malayalam withdrawn
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New Delhi: The circular issued by Delhi government's Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (GIPMER) on Saturday warning its nursing staff members of 'serious action' for using Malayalam, has now been withdrawn said the institute's Medical Director Dr Anil Agarwal on Sunday.
The Delhi government-run G B Pant hospital has also promised strict action in the matter after a row erupted over its earlier circular. The order, which has been issued by the Nursing Superintendent, had received harsh criticism as senior political leaders condemned the order.
"Malayalam is as Indian as any other Indian language. Stop language discrimination!" tweeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on the issue.
Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor also took to Twitter to state that "It boggles the mind that in democratic India a government institution can tell its nurses not to speak in their mother tongue to others who understand them. This is unacceptable, crude, offensive and a violation of the basic human rights of Indian citizens. A reprimand is overdue!"
Slamming the Delhi government over the issue, BJP on Sunday reacted that this was ironical that it requested Kerala for oxygen when in need it during the Covid crisis and has now attempted to snatch its peoples' right to speak in their language with each other, reports PTI.
BJP spokesperson Tom Vadakkan was quoted in the report saying that the "withdrawal in a haste clearly indicates we have an anarchist state government for whom the Constitution of India and its recognized language do not matter."
"The largest number of nurses come from Kerala, and they have served our country as frontline workers along with doctors and other paramedics,hey suffered casualties along too, Vadakkan said, adding that he was surprised at the "deafening silence" from the Kerala government on the matter.
Meanwhile, the Malayali nursing officer representatives from various hospitals in Delhi including AIIMS, LNJP and GTB hospitals had formed an 'action committee' on Saturday night for launching campaign against the circular.
