Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer) has clarified that it has not changed its policies related to the use of various languages for official work. It said the institution gave utmost importance to the use of local language in its communications and interactions with the patients and other members of the public.
In a press note, Jipmer Director Rakesh Aggarwal said that contrary to reports in a section of media, there had been no change in its policies in use of various languages and the circulars of routine nature were similar to those issued periodically in the past, in keeping with the policy and orders of the government.
The institute had in fact issued several circulars, including one which clearly stated that: “As per the official language policy of the union, name plates/sign boards to be displayed for the information of the public by Central govt. office located in non-Hindi speaking areas (Region C) should be written in regional language (i.e. Tamil), Hindi and English, and the languages would be in the order mentioned above, and the letters of the script of all the languages should be of the same size.”
According to the circular, name plates, sign boards, letter heads etc., for internal use of the office should be prepared both in Hindi and English.
Regarding another circular alleged to be specifying the use of ‘Hindi only’, it is clarified that the text in it reads: “as far as possible in Hindi” and no insistence on the use of Hindi., it said
Jipmer also stated that the Hindi cell had been known by this name for the last more than 30 years and there had been no recent change. Other Central government organisations located in Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka etc., also had Hindi cells, it said.
“The institute wishes to reassure the public that it is continuing to follow the government policies as in the past, with no recent change. The Institute has served the people of the region for several years, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, and will continue to do so in the future too,” it said.
