Kerala - Alappuzha   

Officials warned against using English in files

ALAPPUZHA: District-level officials in Alappuzha who deal with any official file in English will face ‘stringent action,’ if District Collector V.K. Balakrishnan’s orders are any indication.

Keeping the government order to implement use of Malayalam as the official language, the Alappuzha Collectorate has once again reminded its officials to stick to the mother-tongue, failing which they will have to be reported to the higher-ups for strict action.

According to a release from the Collectorate, a meeting of the local Official Language Committee chaired by Mr. Balakrishnan had reviewed the implementation of the official language usage in the Collectorate and found that though the compliance was around 92 per cent, there were still repeated violations by a few quarters.

Although the officials are allowed to use English as the medium in communiqués from other States, Central government letters and messages to Railway offices and High Courts, all other files have to be strictly in Malayalam. “This is to help the common man, who might not know English, to understand official notes sent to him,” an official said.

Interestingly, a few say that the 92 per cent compliance reported here might not be accurate. This is because official keeps notes on the above mentioned exemptions (other States, Railways) in Malayalam, all these files will be treated as communications in Malayalam.

In any case, the Collector has said that he will be reviewing the compliance once every three months to check the progress. Additional District Magistrate Koshy John, Official Language department deputy secretary V.G. Yamunarani and other officials were present

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