After receiving flak, Delhi govt hospital revokes order barring nurses from using Malayalam at work

The leading hospital in Delhi had directed its nursing staff to communicate only in Hindi and English, following complaint against usage of Malayalam language.

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New Delhi: After generating flak from the nursing union, Delhi government hospital has now revoked its controversial circular where it had directed its nursing staff not to converse in Malayalam.

"A formal order withdrawing the circular will be issued soon. The matter is being investigated and action will follow," Medical Director Dr Anil Agarwal told PTI. 

Delhi Health department issued a memo to Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research (GIPMER) in connection with its recent order which directed nursing staff to communicate only in Hindi and English, following complaint against usage of Malayalam language, ANI reported. 

Sharing a media report on the issue, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi tweeted on Sunday, "Malayalam is as Indian as any other Indian language. Stop language discrimination!" 

On Saturday, the Nursing Superintendent of the hospital had asked its nursing staff to use only Hindi and English for communication or face 'strict action'. Further, they asked the nurses to refrain from using Malayalam saying 'maximum patients and colleagues do not know this language' which it said causes a lot of 'inconvenience'. 

Expressing displeasure at the circular, G B Pant nurses' association president Liladhar Ramchandani told PTI that the complaint was registered by a patient to a senior officer in the health department, regarding use of Malayalam language at the hospital, while adding that "the union disagrees with the wordings used in the circular".

(With inputs from agencies)