Various opposition parties in Puducherry, including the DMK, the MDMK, and the PMK have come out strongly against a circular of the Jawaharlal Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) that said that entries in service books must be in English and Hindi.
JIPMER Director Dr Rakesh Aggarwal, in the circular, has said that the entries in service books, registers, and service accounts must be made available in Hindi as far as possible. He also called upon all the heads of departments, officers in charge of sections, and staff members to take action to ensure strict compliance with the rules. In the circular, the Director also said that the officials must fulfill the assurance given to the Committee of Parliament of Official Language and the work must be monitored by the officer in charge.
DMK leader R Siva, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Puducherry Assembly, on Monday, May 9, demanded that JIPMER withdraw the order or face a series of agitations. Siva, in a statement, also said that the JIPMER was continuously denying the rights of Puducherry and said that the JIPMER management was involved in "cheap politics". He added that youngsters in Puducherry are either denied employment or being given temporary employment. The DMK leader also charged that permanent postings including that of doctors, nurses, and administrative officials are being given to people from other states.
MDMK leader Vaiko also called upon the JIPMER management to immediately withdraw the circular in Hindi. The PMK state leadership also came out against the circular in Hindi.
According to a report from The Hindu, a JIPMER spokesman has said that the circular was issued as per the directions of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language, and that JIPMER did not have a say in this, and was only implementing the directive of the panel.
Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, who visited JIPMER and held discussions with the Director Rakesh Aggarwal, said "there is no imposition of Hindi in any manner in the institute and Tamil, the local language is given priority". She told reporters that there were four circulars and a couple of them were being propagated as imposing Hindi.
"There is a specific circular that Tamil should be given priority particularly in all communications relating to the patients and services to the people in the institute," she said.